Day 1: 27th March 2004

Inaugural Session : 9.30 A.M. to 12.00 noon
Moderator Dr. Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, President Bangladesh Economic Association and Chairman, Bangladesh Unnayon Parishad

Welcome Address and Introduction by Chairperson, RIB

Address by Jaap van der Zeew, Deputy Head of Mission Embassy of the Kingdom Of the Netherlands

TEA BREAK

Keynote Paper by Prof. Md. Anisur Rahman, Member, Board of Directors, RIB

Main Discussant: Prof. Peter Reason, University of Bath, United Kingdom

Dialogue among participants

Concluding remarks by the Moderator of the Session

Vote of Thanks

Working Session 1

2.00 pm - 3.30pm Moderator: Prof. M.M. Akash, Dept of Economics, University of Dhaka

PAR for Professionals by Professor Yoland Wadsworth, Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia

Brief presentation by Professor Akke vander Zijpp, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

Introduction to the River Gypsy Mobile School Project by Mr. A K M Maksud

Discussions
3.30 pm - 6.30 pm
Field visit to River- gypsy school and Women's Centre, Savar

RECEPTION

Day 2: 28th March 2004

Working Session 2

9.00am - 1.00pm Moderator: Prof. Muinul Islam, Dept of Economics, University of Chittagong

RIB 's research on PAR by Akhtarul Habib Tuhin (RIB)
Prof. M.M. Akash 's experience of capacity-building projects

Tea Break

Capitalizing the Collective Efforts for Socio-economic Upliftment of the Community: Case Study of Three Villages- Kisamatfolia, Bandobila and Maheshwar Chanda by Naimuzzaman Mukta
MMRP experiences of PAR
open discussions

Lunch

Working Session 3

2.00 pm-5.00 pm Dr. Kazi Shahabuddin, DG, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies ( BIDS)
Prospects and challenges of PAR in the field
Struggles for Survival of the Hardcore poor: An alternative approach by Lenin Azad
Locating and Promoting Community-Level Creative Initiatives by Qurratul-Ain Tahmina

Tea Break

Access to information for Improvement of Rural Livelihood by Annanya Raihan
Experiences from other countries
Open discussions

Evening programmes: Visit to Liberation War Museum

Day 3: 29th March 2004

Working Session 4

9.00am - 1.00pm Chair: Dr. Rushidan Islam Rahman, Director, Research, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies ( BIDS )

Individual PAR projects of RIB

Developing a pre-school Model for the Children of the Hardcore Poor Families: An Action Research by Bashir Ahmed assisted by A.H. Tuhin and Shamsul Bari
Preparing Animators for Poverty Alleviation by Allaudin Ali

Tea Break

Pig-rearing for Poverty Alleviation of the Kawra Community by Md. Mujibur Rahman
Finding Poverty Alleviation and Empowerment Strategies of the Harijons by ASM Tofazzel Haque

Open discussion

Lunch

Concluding working session 5

2.00pm -5.30pm (with Tea Break ) Moderator : Shamsul Bari

Lessons learnt
Sustaining PAR at the institutional and research level
Future outlook and possible collaborative ventures

Films on Sundarbans

Dinner

30th March 2004
Leave for Jessore - morning flight
Stopover at Banchtey Shekha : contact person Angela Gomez

Trip to Jessore Project Sites
Trip to Maheshwar Chanda on the way Kushtia and Tomb of Lalon Fakir, if possible cover Shelaidaha Tagore's Kuthi bari
Return to Magura by evening

31st Morning: Discussion with Magura pre-school children and parents
Return to Dhaka evening flight
sightseeing and shopping in Dhaka
Departures