Dissemination Event | Beyond Just Cash Transfers: New Evidence on Inclusive Education and Livelihood Interventions - BRAC Institute of Governance and Development

Dissemination Event | Beyond Just Cash Transfers: New Evidence on Inclusive Education and Livelihood Interventions

June 30, 2026 9:30 am - 1:30 pm
BRAC Centre

BIGD and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) convened academics, practitioners, persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, policymakers, and development partners to share new evidence on what works to advance economic and educational inclusion for persons with disabilities.

Globally, 1.3 billion people with disabilities face high levels of poverty and social exclusion, while an estimated 240 million children with disabilities encounter significant barriers to quality education. In Bangladesh, inadequate inclusive infrastructure, limited teacher capacity, and financial constraints continue to hinder educational participation; yet high-quality evidence on interventions that promote both educational and economic inclusion remains limited.

BIGD and LSHTM convened the event to help address that gap, anchored by two studies:

The first covered the Disability-Inclusive Ultra-Poor Graduation (DIUPG) Programme, an adaptation of BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation model that aims to improve the overall quality of life of extremely poor individuals with disabilities and their families, facilitate their transition out of poverty, and enhance their social participation.
The second covered a comprehensive disability-inclusive education program (Shikhbo Sobai), implemented by Sightsavers and partners, that combined individual-, school-, and community-level interventions, moving beyond the typical focus on supporting individual children to also address barriers at the school and community levels, in a context where children with disabilities remain disproportionately excluded from mainstream education despite Bangladesh’s near-universal primary enrollment.

“There is a two-way relationship between disability and poverty. For households with persons with disabilities, lifting themselves out of poverty is considerably more difficult. We need to address poverty and disability together.”

Dr. Imran Matin, Executive Director, BIGD

Welcome and Opening Remarks

The event opened with Dr. Imran Matin (Executive Director, BIGD) underscoring the interconnected nature of poverty and disability. He argued that lifting households with persons with disabilities out of poverty is considerably harder, and that the two must be addressed together. Noting that the support such households currently receive is largely grant-dependent, he affirmed that while transfers are a citizen’s right for persons with disabilities, the ambition must extend beyond cash transfers toward holistic development that integrates persons with disabilities into economic, social, and political life.

Tahera Jabeen (Social Development Adviser, British High Commission, Dhaka) reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to advancing disability-inclusive development by strengthening the connection between evidence and practical action. Building on the momentum of the 2018 Global Disability Summit, she described how the UK has embedded disability inclusion across its work, funding initiatives to strengthen the evidence base on what works and supporting its application to policies and programs. She noted, however, that realizing this impact is reliant on addressing a persistent challenge: the availability and use of high-quality disaggregated disability data.

Dr. Mark Carew (Assistant Professor, International Centre for Evidence in Disability, LSHTM), who worked on the research evaluating disability-inclusive interventions in Bangladesh, previewed the day’s central findings: that BRAC’s DIUPG Programme is helping persons with disabilities in Bangladesh move out of poverty, while Sightsavers’ Shikhbo Shobai program is making education more inclusive for children with disabilities.

“There is a difference between receiving a cash transfer of 550 taka and earning an extra 550 taka on your own. Earning that money yourself holds a different value for people. To better understand the program’s impact, we need to look beyond the economic dimensions of participants’ well-being to the social dimensions as well.”

Dr. Munshi Sulaiman, Research Director, BIGD on how to improve our understanding of the program’s efficacy

Session 1 | Economic Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities

Moderated by Mehnaz Rabbani (Director, Operations, Strategy and Partnership, BIGD), the first session focused on the economic inclusion of persons with disabilities. It opened with an overview of the DIUPG approach by Md. Golam Kibria (Senior Manager, Disability Inclusion, UPG Programme, BRAC), followed by a presentation of new research findings by Mohima Gomes (Senior Research Associate, BIGD) and Tahasin Tasnim Mohce (Senior Research Associate, BIGD) on whether a disability-inclusive poverty graduation program can reduce poverty among persons with disabilities.

The findings suggest that the DIUPG Programme significantly improved the economic well-being of participating households, increasing per capita monthly income and household expenditure. The impacts were even stronger among persons with disabilities: treatment groups saw notable gains in employment (21%), working hours (27%), and earnings (30%) compared to control groups. This demonstrates the program’s effectiveness in reducing poverty and improving livelihoods.

As designated discussant, Professor Munshi Sulaiman (Professor and Research Director, BIGD) recalled his early experience with the UPG Programme and its original focus on the economically active ultra-poor. Over time, that perspective evolved to recognize that such economic interventions can work for persons with disabilities too. He stressed that changing people’s attitudes is crucial to the success of such programs and that should be the program’s next target. An open audience Q&A followed the session.

“The results point to a clear divergence between girls and boys. For boys, early gains in exam participation faded over time, which tells us that getting children enrolled is not enough to keep them engaged. Future programs need tailored support for boys, and we need further research to understand what is driving these differences.”

Dr. Narayan C. Das, Professor, Senior Research Fellow, and Head of the Economics Cluster, BIGD

Session 2 | Inclusive Education

Moderated by Dr. Shaila Ahmed (Assistant Professor, Research Fellow, and Head of the Gender and Social Development Cluster, BIGD), the second session turned to inclusive education. It began with an overview of the Shikhbo Shobai program by Aouana Marzia (Education Project Manager, Sightsavers), followed by a presentation of evidence by Professor Narayan C. Das (Professor, Senior Research Fellow, and Head of the Economics Cluster, BIGD) from an evaluation of the effectiveness of the program.

Dr. Das highlighted that the program generated sustained improvements in educational outcomes for children with disabilities, increasing school enrolment by 15% even three years after implementation. The long-term benefits were strongest for girls, who experienced substantial gains in enrolment (14–28%), study time at home (37%), and continued participation in final examinations.

Professor Muhammed Mahbubur Rahaman (Institute of Education and Research, University of Dhaka, and President, Bangladeshi National Alliance of Disability Professionals) shared his observations about the study as designated discussant, ahead of an open audience Q&A.

“At the upazila resource centers, teacher training does take place, but how many teachers are actually being trained in assistive teaching methods? Special schools, rather than closing this gap, often end up reinforcing segregation—and even within these schools, teachers trained in Braille or sign language are often in short supply.”

Salma Mahbub, Founder General Secretary, B-Scan on the challenges faced by children with disabilities in accessing education

Session 3 | Bringing Together Research, Practice, and Policy

Moderated by Dr. S. M. Zulfiqar Ali (Research Director, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies), the closing panel brought together research, practice, and policy to explore how the evidence shared during the day could be translated into action. Panelists included Mohammad Nazmul Ahsan (Joint Secretary, Planning and Development, Ministry of Social Welfare), Shahid Ullah (Head of Programme, UPG), Md. Golam Kibria (Senior Manager, Disability Inclusion, UPG Programme, BRAC), and Salma Mahbub (Founder General Secretary, B-Scan).

Salma Mahbub drew attention to the persistent shortage of trained teachers, recounting that the conversation around inclusive education has been ongoing for many years. Despite this, she emphasized that children with disabilities continue to fall behind in schools. She questioned how many teachers at upazila resource centers are actually being trained in assistive methods such as Braille and sign language, and cautioned that special schools can end up reinforcing segregation rather than closing the gap.

In response, Mohammad Nazmul Ahsan described the Ministry’s life-cycle framework, in which social safety nets and support services are designed to follow a person throughout their life. He explained that the government is increasingly moving from simple financial assistance toward a ‘Cash Plus’ model that combines cash support with sustainable interventions. He also noted the government’s commitment to universal coverage for persons with disabilities as reflected in a budget increase from 3,845 to 4,715 crore taka in the current fiscal year, with roughly 40 lakh people registered in the Disability Information System.

Concluding the panel, moderator Dr. S. M. Zulfiqar Ali argued that the government is the key entity and must sit in the driving seat, bringing NGOs, CSOs, and the private sector together to make inclusive development a reality.

Closing Remarks

Dr. Morgon Banks (Associate Professor, Disability Research, International Centre for Evidence in Disability, LSHTM) closed the event by reflecting on the day’s discussions and the road ahead. She noted that the next step is to translate the lessons presented into sustainable change, so that inclusion becomes standard practice in Bangladesh and beyond

Events