G²LM|LIC , IZA – Institute of Labor Economics, BIGD, BRAC, LSE, and STICERD, are jointly organizing an event to discuss the impact of the pandemic on the 2007 cohort of beneficiaries of BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation (UPG) program in rural areas of Bangladesh, research by BIGD and LSE, 2021, in the context of the research on the long-term results of UPG on November 10th, 2021, from 12:30 to 2pm (GMT+1) at the British Academy in London. The pandemic restricts the prospect of attending the event in person, but it gives us the opportunity to invite you to attend the hybrid event remotely through Zoom Webinar.
Details:
The poorest and the most vulnerable households in low-income countries have been hit hardest by COVID-19. In Bangladesh, an additional 22.9% of the population fell below the poverty line. In normal conditions, BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation (UPG) program has proven highly successful at giving the poorest women in some of the poorest areas of Bangladesh the tools to escape the poverty trap.
Recent research by BIGD and LSE, 2021 investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 2007 cohort of beneficiaries of BRAC’s UPG program in rural areas of Bangladesh. Using the findings of Balboni et al. (2020) to compare two groups—above the poverty threshold and below the poverty threshold—it is found that the two groups had benefited to a different extent. The study also compares the resilience of the younger participants to the older group. Participants who fare better are more likely to have good jobs, including salaried, agricultural, and non-agricultural work, and productive assets at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are also more likely to keep good jobs during these unprecedented times and suffer less from COVID-19 induced migration.
Panelists:
- Oriana Bandiera, Sir Anthony Atkinson Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, and a fellow of the British Academy, the Econometric Society, CEPR, BREAD and IZA. She is co-editor of Econometrica, vice-president of the European Economic Association, and director of the Gender, Growth and Labour Markets in Low-Income Countries (G²LM|LIC) program.
- Imran Matin, Executive Director, BIGD, and visiting Fellow of the Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Country Director of the International Growth Centre (IGC) in Bangladesh.
Register in advance for this webinar here.