Participation in the 6th International Coordinator's Meeting for Demand Led Research in Cairo Egypt,

The meeting was held from February 8-12, 2004 at Helnan Shepheard Hotel, Cairo, Egypt organized by Partnership in Development Research (PDR), Social Research Center - American University in Cairo. Dr Meghna Guhathakurta, Executive Director, and Mr Monwarul Islam, Member of the Board of Director participated from RIB.

Participation in the International Workshop on Workshop Environment and sustainable development in Hanoi, Vietnam

The Workshop was held from 09 to 10 October 2003, Hanoi, Vietnam, organized by Vietnam Netherlands Research program (VNRP). Three papers were presented at the workshop from Bangladesh. They are as follows.

1. Environmental Degradation and the Poor in Rural Bangladesh: effects and Responses to the Emerging Consequences by Dr. Monirul I. Khan, Department of Sociology- Dhaka University

2. The Garo (Mandi) Community of Bangladesh: Their Traditional Agriculture and Environment by Shubhra Sheully Shaha, Researcher of RIB supported project on Garo Community and Jiban K. Roy, Program Officer- RIB

3. Gender and Sustainable Development in Bangladesh: Myths and Realities by Dr. Mahbuba Nasreen, Department of Sociology- Dhaka University

Mr Jamil H Chowdhury, Research Director of RIB chaired the session on "Environment and Poverty Alleviation in the workshop.

Participation in the International Conference on "Empowering Women through Information and Knowledge: From Oral Traditions to ICT"

The conference was held from May 30 to 2 June, 2003 at Mahindra United World College of India, Paud, Pune, India jointly organized by The SNDT Women's University (Mumbai) and the Centre for Women's Development Studies (New Delhi). Sayema Nazneen -Program Officer and Imtiaj Rasul - Program Officer of RIB participated and presented papers in the international conference which was attended by over 130 participants from 21 states of India and 15 international delegates from 10 countries. The Conference was aimed at bringing under one umbrella experts from diverse fields working the area of women's information and related issues in India and abroad. The Conference provided an unparalled opportunity and a rich variety of ideas and experiences for scholars, researchers, information professionals, policy makers and activists to meet and interact. The Conference provided a common platform to exchange ideas and develop communicative network