Two-Generation ECD and Ultra-Poor Graduation Program for Refugee and Host Communities in Northern Uganda

• In Event: Two-Generation Programming in Humanitarian Settings

Proposal

BRAC’s two-generation project in Northern Uganda brings together two of BRAC’s flagship, evidence-based interventions to address the needs of marginalized and ultra-poor refugee parents and children to improve outcomes for the whole family. These interventions are the Ultra-Poor Graduation (Graduation) approach and BRAC’s Humanitarian Play Lab (HPL). Graduation is a robust, multi-component anti-poverty intervention that supports households to be able to weather and avoid shocks while finding a path out of poverty. Graduation includes five core components: consumption support, an income-generating asset, skills training to manage the asset(s), a savings account or savings group, and coaching or mentoring over a two-year period. BRAC’s HPL integrates a play-based curriculum with child protection and psychosocial support to promote resilience, establish a sense of normalcy and support children aged 3 - 6 to learn and heal through play. HPL children’s caregivers are actively engaged through monthly parenting sessions, which focus on responsive caregiving, the importance of ECD and encouraging play at home. The project reaches 3,650 children through the HPLs and 700 households through a combination of Graduation and HPL. BRAC is working with researchers at IPA to develop and rollout a project learning agenda, which aims to compare the outcomes for children from Graduation + HPL households with the children of households who receive HPL only. BRAC will present the preliminary learnings from the first two years of this three-year project.

Author

• Devon McLorg, BRAC