Voices from the Field: Reaching the Poorest in Peru

CGAP and the Ford Foundation launched a partnership in 2006 to test and adapt the Graduation Approach - an approach using a mix of interventions to help the extreme poor “graduate” from extreme poverty into a sustainable livelihood. With 10 pilot programs in eight different countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Pakistan, Peru and Yemen), CGAP and the Ford Foundation are committed to dramatically scaling up solutions that help end extreme poverty. Going forward, CGAP and its partners will be exploring how to integrate the Graduation Approach into the social protection programs of governments and larger funders using synthesized research findings along with lessons from the first wave of graduation pilots.

As the pilot project in Peru nears completion, we take a look back on the past three and a half years and the opportunity Peru's govenment has moving forward. CGAP's Michael Rizzo was in Peru visiting communities in the high Andean region of Cusco and spoke with some of the pioneers and partners that have witnessed the program evolve over the last few years. 

Syed Hashemi, Director of the BRAC Development Institute at BRAC University
“A ladder for the poorest to come out of extreme poverty" | Listen >>
“Now that we have this success, the important thing is to scale up” | Listen >>

Frank DeGiovanni, Director of the Financial Assets unit of Ford Foundation
“Families benefit in both material and nonmaterial ways” | Listen >>
“We see a lot of excitement and a lot of interest for scaling this up” | Listen >>

Mariella Greco, Country Director of Plan International, Peru
“I found the change in these families to be tremendous” | Listen >>