Narigrantha Prabartana is the first and the only Feminist Publishing House in Bangladesh. It is also the only women-focused bookstore and a friendly place where women meet other women to discuss issues which concern them.

Formed in 1989, Narigrantha Prabartana came into being at a stage when the women's movement in Bangladesh had started to feel the need to articulate its demands for fundamental political, social and economic rights both on national and international platforms.

Narigrantha Prabartana is an offshoot of UBINIG, (UBINIG is the abbreviation of its Bengali name Unnayan Bikalper Niti Nirdharoni Gobeshana) a policy research organisation working on women's issues. UBINIG has been involved in forming women's groups around economic activities, health and education programmes since 1984. These activities are taken up as a component of research to draw experience and information. The lessons learned are used to evaluate ongoing national and international women's programmes and models followed in the country.

It is important to note that Narigrantha Prabartana does not depend solely on printed materials for spreading relevant information among women. In an attempt not to marginalise women who have not had the privilege of education Narigrantha Prabartana carries out meetings with women in both rural and urban areas. Adda, the teashop run by it provides an informal space for women to meet and talk to each other.

Cover Design by Abu Baki.
All rights reserved: Narigrantha Prabartana.

"Do sons look after their mothers? No. It is the trees which are more reliable than the sons. If you have a tree you can be sure that at the time of nidan kal (the time of death), the funeral cost will be met by the tree", said an old woman to the researchers of UBINIG who were investigating the role of women in the tree planting and their relation to trees in general in Bangladesh.

Contrary to the mainstream image of poor women carrying loads of firewood which implicates them in the process of destruction of forests this book shows the ecological awareness and concern rural women have. Simple and straightforward in format this book is invaluable to anyone interested in issues of ecology and feminisim.

Resisting Norplant asks these questions and exposes the ideological character of the depopulating strategies and the violence done against women in promoting unsafe contraceptive methods that benefit multinational corporations and vested interests.

Cover Design by Abu Baki.
All rights reserved: Narigrantha Prabartana.

An invaluable book for students of sociology and women's studies and anyone who is interested in women's issues.

It also documents the process of resistance initiated by UBINIG and carried out by the women of Bangladesh.

Initially prepared for distribution and endorsement before and during the World Food Summit (11-17 November, 1996, Rome, Italy) organised by FAO this statement will continue to be distributed for endorsement and collective actions after the Summit.

"The past and future is contained in the present. Not as an idea, utopia or a theoretical projection of an intention or aspiration. What the future is going to be already here, and what is here is nothing but the past as history."

This book tells the story of UBINIG Paribar, the problems and pleasures of working against western models of development for the true development of Bangladesh.

Substantiated by newspaper clippings on trafficking in women and children published in the Bengali national dailies and weekly newspapers over a period of time this pamphlet draws our attention to an issue which needs urgent action.

This pamphlet was produced for distribution among the official delegates at the Fourth World Conference on Women 1995, Beijing, China and for the women activists attending the NGO Forum '95, Huairou, China.