Using Real‐time Monitoring to Enhance Graduation from Extreme Poverty in Bangladesh

The total eradication of extreme poverty is a primary focus of the post‐Millennium Development Goal (MDG) agenda. Whilst the term ‘graduation’ is contentious, in this article it is used to refer to the transition of households or individuals out of extreme poverty. Graduation programmes commonly focus on asset transfer to establish a productive micro‐enterprise. To operationalise a 100 per cent graduation creates an imperative for programmes to focus on all of their beneficiaries, in particular the very poorest. The combination of smartphones and internet connectivity provides the building blocks of a system that can track the current status of all programme participants and provide frequent and up‐to‐date census‐level information, enabling timely adaptation of interventions. EEP/Shiree, an extreme poverty reduction programme in Bangladesh, has adopted this approach. This article provides evidence from the roll‐out of this system and its potential contribution to the practical realisation of the ‘leave no one behind’ objective.