Bangladesh Mahila Parishad - Norad

175) BMP is further strengthenedand developed through capacitybuilding towards sustainabilityand institutionalizationOrganization, training, finance, legal aid, cultureBMP has a head office in Dhaka with 58 paid staff and district offices in 28 districts,employing one full time staff in each district office. BMP also has a presence in the32 other districts of Bangladesh, but offices do not have paid staff.2.2 Cross-cutting issues and mainstreamingAlthough implementation of the work programme at BMP is shared among the subcommittees,BMP’s role as an advocacy oriented social movement means that mostsub-committees carry out activities to strengthen the movement as well as toundertake advocacy. Consequently, a number of core activities are carried out bymost sub-committees:1) Advocacy towards the government2) Dialogue and discussion events: roundtables, workshops, seminars3) Activism: response to incidents + large planned demonstrations on UNdesignated days4) Documentation and research5) TrainingThese activities will be treated in separate sections later in the report.2.3 Professional networks: mobilization of expertiseBMP is associated with professional networks and resource persons whose expertiseis mobilized for advocacy purposes. These networks and people belong mainly tofour professions: the legal profession, the medical profession, academics, and schoolteachers and principals. These are networks of professionals who in the literature oncivil society organizations are considered to be socially embedded and ‘home grown’as opposed to NGOs that are donor funded, and often donor driven, and servicedeliveryoriented. BMP’s capacity to mobilize these networks is a major strength ofBMP.