Mass-line Media Centre (MMC) has started a project titled Advocacy for Grassroots through Community Participation with the assistance of Danish International Development Agency-DANIDA from 1st January, 2006. Initially this is a two years project and the project is being implemented in 64 districts of the country. Ensuring better livelihood is the main goal of the project.

Background

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) of Bangladesh government argues that the main reason of poverty in Bangladesh is not only the less income of people. The reason behind poverty also includes gender inequalities, powerlessness, exclusion and lack of participation of disadvantaged communities from decision-making process. As a result of it the hard-core poor are deprived of food, shelter, education and nutrition that perpetuate the poverty. To face the challenge, a better understanding of ground realities, transforming the institutional culture, building dynamic partnership among the rural communities has become urgent tasks for the development practitioners. It is perceived from various experiences that the main factors behind poverty are multi–dimensional. The factors that affect the reduction of poverty are as follows:

 80% of the diseases are water borne.
 In the rural areas only 40% peoples are getting the sanitation facility.
 Access to road is constrained due to poor condition, particularly in the villages.
 Per capita consumption of electricity is lowest in Bangladesh compared to any other country in the South Asia.
 Less than 30% peoples get the power facility.
 In the rural areas it is about 10% and in the coastal and remote areas it is only 3%.

In line with the policy of the government, this project is emphasizing to improve the efficiency level of the community people to get access into the basic services by complementing its effort through greater participation of community based organizations. In response to this challenge it is important to develop alternative institution to reduce the power gap between the distanced communities and institutions that are supposed to deliver the services to the community people especially for the hardcore poor.

To promote community driven initiatives through decentralized planning and management, creation of Rural Advocacy Center (RAC) is needed for addressing the needs of the hard core poor. Such rural based advocacy assistance programs towards poorest and socially excluded groups are helping to reduce poverty through social mobilization. Empowerment for creating a voice in decision-making is a prime task of such self-help advocacy centers for brining the institutional facilities to the doorsteps of the hardcore poor. The impartation of such initiative through RAC is also fulfilling the unmet demand of other community people. 

Issues are addressed by the project
The project is addressing participatory approach to increase access to resources and basic services and development of human resources that are needed for better livelihood at community level.
It is expected that the RACs will play an important role in mobilizing the rural communities, fostering social capital and advocating for implementation of the pro-poor policies addressed in the PRSP. The project is supporting capacity building of rural advocates and will also communicate and learn from project implementation so that it can develop the ability to spread, scale up and institutionalize the successful principles and practices arising out of it.
Introducing community-driven approaches

The project is promoting the adoption of community-driven approaches in 64 unions of 64 districts to replace more traditional, top-down inventories currently introduced in the country. It is developing network with the stakeholders to work closely with community groups, develop key decisions regarding small investment to these groups and thereby promote greater community ownership of poverty reduction interventions.
Introducing a result-oriented social assistance program

To meet the demand of the community people the project invites various institutional authorities to listen to hardcore poor for bridging the information gap between the disadvantaged and advantaged groups of the society. It will help to bring benefit to the hardcore poor by creating pressure on the institutional authorities.

Goals and Purpose
• Establishing the “Rural Advocacy Center” in 64 districts to identify life centered community problems of grassroots people and to find out possible solution for better livelihood.
• Developing the community people as critical mass by involving them in the local level Meet the People to ensure the accountability of the local level stakeholders.

Activities

Need assessment
• Conducting a baseline survey on the grassroots peoples of 64 districts to know the level of difficulties they face in their daily life.
• Conducting another baseline survey among the upazila level officials and other local level officials such as Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) or the Pourosobha Nirbahi Officer and other local level institution. Preparing a survey report at the end of the survey.
• Disseminating the survey result among the upazila level officials and union chairman and members and other service providing organizations.

Capacity building activities
• Preparing campaign module and manual for capacity building campaign orientation for the rural advocates.
• Providing orientation to 64 peoples from the grassroots level as Team Leaders of RAC on the activities and maintenance process of the RAC.
• Providing orientation to 64 Grassroots Campaigner on how to measure the effect and impact of the RAC. Thus they would be able to reflect the effect of 64 RACs for creating network among the RACs and other local and national level institutions.
Advocacy activities
• Conducting bi-weekly meeting in the RAC with the participation of grassroots people to identify the problems or difficulties that they face in their daily life and issues would be selected in these meeting.
• After the issue selection monthly meeting would be arranged with the participation of the influential people of the area, UP Chairman, District Judge, UNO and other local level officials such as Pourosobha Officer and other officials to find out possible solution.
• Quarterly Meet the People seminar would be arranged in the local level press club with the participation of the grassroots people and local level stakeholders for the purpose of ensuring accountability of the influential people and other institutional activists who are supposed to be devoted for the advancement for the local people.
• Quarterly progress meeting would be arranged with the participation of the Center Management Committee (CMC), Grassroots Campaigner and Team Leader of RAC.
• Continuous field visit by the Program Officers and by the Regional Programme Officer to keep close contact with the field level activists.
Campaign activities   
• Publishing posters and brochures for awareness raising.
• Arranging quarterly basis Folk Program by involving local indigenous media in the RAC for issue based awareness build up.
• Preparing annual report in each and every year combining the progress and achievement of the activities of the running project.  

Stakeholders

Primary stakeholders              
The project considered the following people or group of people as the primary stakeholders: Landless/Asset less, People with no homestead, Unemployed people, Youth at risk, Poor fishermen, Disabled people, Sharecropper, Rickshaw/Van puller, Day laborer, Small trader & vendor, Blacksmith, Female headed household; Disadvantaged minor, tribal people; Pregnant women, women experiencing violation in case of their rights & abandoned women/widow, distressed women, jobless garments workers etc.

Secondary stakeholders
The secondary stakeholders of the project are: Upazila level officials, Pourosobha officials, Local UP Chairmans, District Judges, Local level service providing institutions, Ansars and VDPs, Schoolteachers, Social workers, Human rights activists, Development workers, Village leaders, Imams, Health workers, UP members (male and female), Student leaders, Opinion leaders, Cultural workers etc.

Geographical Location 
By establishing 64 RAC the entire country would be covered. So all the 64 districts of Bangladesh would be considered as working area of the proposed project. 

Duration
The running project would be implemented in 2 years.