Work Allocation
As an intern, I was supporting the Graduation Working Group (GWG) under the Social
Development Thematic Group of the Sustainable Development and Climate Change division at ADB. This is the first such working group at ADB, which is a unique team of committed development sector professionals who have come together to work on an area of interest, specially the Graduation Approach. The working group consisted of five members from various departments of ADB and I was its first full time member.
Work Areas
I was supporting the GWG on streamlining ADB’s work on the Graduation Approach. The Graduation Approach is an innovative and comprehensive poverty eradication approach, different than traditional poverty alleviation programs. It is based on rigorous evidence, has timebound and sequenced cross-sector interventions, and works in close integration with government programs. It has been tested in some form in 43 countries around the world. ADB has invested in its first Graduation Approach project in Negros Occidental, Philippines.
My work entailed the following:
• Researching and analyzing the work done on the Graduation Approach globally
• Drafting a Policy Brief on the alignment of the approach with ADB’s long term strategy
• Writing a blog post for the ADB website on the impact of this approach on an individual
• Consolidating ADB’s first knowledge repository of resources on the Graduation Approach, which is currently being used by members of the GWG
• Liaising with respective partner organizations, specially BRAC USA, on inputs for ADB’s current project in the Philippines
• Supporting the BRAC USA team as an ADB resource person on their field monitoring visit in Negros Occidental, Philippines in Aug’19.
• Designing a conference session on the Graduation Approach for the Asia Pacific Social Protection Week that took place at the ADB office in Manila from 9 – 12 Sep’19. Apart from regular work in office, I had the chance to undertake a 5-day field visit to witness and support ADB’s project on ground. I was sent as a resource person along with the technical partner for the project. I also had the opportunity to support ADB’s workshops with various government departments in the Philippines to design programs integrating the Graduation Approach.
Final Deliverables
My final deliverables for the GWG were:
• Presentation in office, open to all members at ADB, speaking about ‘Graduation Approach
– supporting the achievement of ADB Strategy 2030’.
• Policy brief on ‘Addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities through the
Graduation Approach’ (Scheduled to be published later this year)
• Blog post for the ADB website (scheduled to be published in late Sept or early Oct)
Overall experience
I had an absolutely wonderful experience, one that I learned immensely from. I had great exposure of working in office, engaging with ADB’s partner organizations, supporting workshops with the government as well as visiting operations in the field. My team of five was also extremely supportive, they went out of their way to aid my learning and provide me a holistic experience. They had become like family; I owe a lot to them and I’ve developed relationships that I would take forward even after the internship. Most importantly, this internship added to my understanding of a development bank’s perspective, learn about innovative poverty eradication programs, and largely the development sector, all of which will help me in my career ahead. I’m very grateful to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy for providing me this opportunity.
