Bedari’s Evolution:

Bedari started as a small organization with no regular staff. It relied entirely on the time and efforts of volunteers for the achievement of its objectives. It continued to work in this mode with only one office assistant working as full-time employee. The lawyers, psychologists, doctors – all were working as volunteers. Bedari supported around 1000 women in distress every year.

As the demand from other areas grew, so did the workload, which made Bedari rethink its methodology. It became difficult to continue working with a large number of volunteers with fluctuating availability. Bedari constantly received new volunteers to replace old ones, but still it was not matching the demand.

This situation led to the realization that there was a serious need to redesign the strategy. In 2006, the process for redesigning started.

Now Bedari has a formal, paid full-time working staff that has a support from a wide network of volunteers. It is establishing partnerships with donors to execute various projects with specific objectives. It has not dissociated itself from its past. Discrimination and violence against women remain core subjects. However, it has expanded its wings to other areas which affect women’s condition in the society. These include education, economic empowerment and formulation of explicit laws and their implementation to safeguard women’s rights.

Today Bedari is working more vigorously on these issues. Moreover, it has expanded its geographic coverage from Rawalpindi/Islamabad to Chakwal, Attock, Jhelum, Muzaffarabad, and Mansehra. It continues to rely on volunteers, but has a skeleton staff as well.