Integrating the Graduation Approach in Programs Supporting Refugees

This report presents a meta-analysis of Trickle Up’s Building Self-Reliance of Refugees Project for the purpose of assessing the effectiveness and suitability of the Graduation Approach in refugee settings. In 2016, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration provided a grant to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to fund Graduation Approach pilot projects in refugee settings. As the technical advisor, Trickle Up supported the design and/or implementation of Graduation programs in ten UNHCR country operations. This report reviewed the implementation and impact of the Graduation programs in five locations: Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Malawi, and Zambia.

The Graduation Approach programs aimed to mitigate household poverty through individual participation. The principal approach combined elements of social protection, livelihood development, and financial inclusion, though programs were tailored to different contexts and cultures. By analyzing the outcome reports of five completed programs against qualitative insights from expert and stakeholder interviews, this report identifies some challenges in the design, implementation, and evaluation of Graduation programming in refugee contexts, and provides recommendations for future adaptation of the Graduation Approach in other refugee settings.