Ultra Poverty Graduation - World Vision

The first months of this cooperation were largely focused on the inception phase, including gathering of information, assessments and recruitments of staff on both regional and local level. Some specific results: 1) Recruitment of Ultra Poverty Graduation facilitators, 35 Household Consultants. 2) The project had formal agreements signed with 402 households, which will now be included in the programme. 3) A gender sensitive assessment of the local labour market and local economy has been made. This assessment gave information necessary in order to identify green and sustainable income opportunities for project beneficiaries. 4) A Socio Economic and Vulnerability Assessment (SEVA) was made. The assessment revealed that poverty instigating factors include 8 main issues, for example: improper education unemployment improper access to healthcare lack of infrastructure etc etc. These issues impact poverty of part of population and makes it difficult for them to alleviate poverty. 5) A gender sensitive mapping of public and private social services has been made. The study revealed a large need of diverse support programs on municipal level which would benefit the most vulnerable groups. The study also identified gaps, which this programme shall try to meet.

The overall objective is to contribute to reducing poverty and increase the resilience of ultra-poor households in 5 regions in Georgia and encourage their active participation in socio-economic life through the incorporation of ultra-poor graduation (UPG) principles and measures into national and sub national programs/schemes in support of the poverty reduction efforts of the Government of Georgia. This through work aimed to lead to the following two outcomes: 1) Through the implementation of the UPG Model, ultra-poor Households have improved socio-economic inclusion, resilience and technical skills, knowledge and capacities to access existing social/financial services and markets and to participate in community structures and networks. 2) Governmental agencies at national and municipal levels have strengthened capacities and structures to promote UPG in Georgia through the establishment of an UPG knowledge pool and adapted UPG-model approaches for the Georgian context. The Ultra-Poor Graduation approach is a holistic approach to identify the most destitute households and support them out of poverty. It guides households step-by-step from poverty to self-reliance. The approach has four components/pillars: Social protection: preventive and protective mechanisms to support basic income security such as consumption support, crisis relief, and access to health and education. Livelihoods promotion: regular and diverse income streams for households to support consumption, asset accumulation, and economic empowerment, especially for women. Interventions include asset or cash transfers for a viable livelihood or linkages to formal employment, technical and business skills training, and access to markets Financial inclusion: provides improved income and risk management and financial empowerment of all adult family members male and female. Interventions typically include access to formal or informal savings facilities, credit and insurance mechanisms, accompanied by financial literacy training. Social empowerment: equips families with a more confident mindset and promotes community inclusion and positive behaviour change. Interventions include life skills training, social integration, and coaching that cut across all four pillars, underpinned by a commitment to gender equality.