Engaging elite support for the poorest? BRAC's Targeted Ultra Poor programme for rural women in Bangladesh

Abstract

This article draws preliminary lessons from the experience of engaging village elites in support of a BRAC programme for ultra-poor women in rural Bangladesh. It describes the origins, aims, and operation of this programme, which provides comprehensive livelihood support and productive assets to the extreme poor. Based on field research in the rural north-west, the article examines the conditions under which elites can support interventions for the ultra-poor, and the risks and benefits of such engagement. It describes the impact of committees mandated to support ultra-poor programme participants, and attempts to understand the somewhat paradoxical success of this intervention. Conclusions and lessons from the experience involve revisiting assumptions that dominate scholarship and programmes relating to the politics of poverty in rural Bangladesh.

Resilience: New Utopia or New Tyranny? Reflection about the Potentials and Limits of the Concept of Resilience in Relation to Vulnerability Reduction Programmes

“…In addition, it is an intervention aimed at influencing public attitudes and behaviour in favour of marginalised groups. This decision marked a break from BRAC´s traditional focus on attempting to either bypass local elites, or actively confronting them (Hossain and Matin 2007). The advantages of engaging local elites is that it ensured the 'enduring, day-to-day, on-site support' (Hossain and Matin 2007) that is necessary for the effective functioning and durability of the programme´s other interventions.…”

“…This decision marked a break from BRAC´s traditional focus on attempting to either bypass local elites, or actively confronting them (Hossain and Matin 2007). The advantages of engaging local elites is that it ensured the 'enduring, day-to-day, on-site support' (Hossain and Matin 2007) that is necessary for the effective functioning and durability of the programme´s other interventions. For example, the VAC´s were enlisted with the tasks of providing support for beneficiaries during crises, ensuring they get access to health services and that children are enrolled in school.…”

“…New social networks of women are established and often endure, which also boosts their self-confidence (Hashemi and Umaira 2011). For poor women, greater involvement in patronage networks is a key benefit of the programme, although one would have to see how this plays out in the long-term (Hossain and Matin 2007). The percentage of women who know the legal age of marriage has risen from 11% to 31%.…”

“…Higher levels of social, legal and political awareness have also increased chances of female participation in micro-credit schemes (Shams et al 2010) 1.Transfers can increase female autonomy (Escobar Latapi and Gonzalez de la Rocha 2008), although others worry that the strong focus on women's role as mothers retrenches traditional gender inequalities (Molyneux 2006). 4.Poor women can benefit from the security and opportunities provided by patronage networks fostered by the VAC's (Hossain and Matin 2007), and awareness of the legal age of marriage has risen due to the education provided.…”

Urban Poverty in Bangladesh: Causes, Consequences and Coping Strategies

“…Limitations to agency emerging from the structural inequalities in social, political and economic power and influence 120 This has been recognised in connection with asset transfer programmes in Bangladesh. BRAC's Targeting the Ultra Poor programme, for example, established that simply transferring an asset was not e through the formation of Gram Sahayak Committees to provide on protection and support for ultra Matin 2004). …”