More involvement of youth in the development of society, speakers claimed

In celebration of the International Youth Day, BRAC’s Youth Platform organised a discussion titled "Unleashing the power of young people towards a new Bangladesh: Ageism as a barrier" on Friday in the capital, said a press release.

Yashveer Singh, executive director, Ashoka Young Changemakers, a global network of influential youth leaders; Kishor Kumar Das, founder, Bidyanondo Foundation, Bangladesh; and Shariful Hasan, head, BRAC's Migration Programme and Youth Initiatives; were present as keynote speakers at the event.

Lamea Tanjin Tanha, Ashoka Fellow and founder, TransEnd; Shamim Ahmed Mridha, founder, NGO Eco-Network; Detepriya Roy Chowdhury, project lead, Online Safety for Women and Youth in Bangladesh, Youth Platform, BRAC; and Fairooz Faiza Beether, co-founder, psychosocial organisation Moner School; were also present at the panel discussion. The event was moderated by Sakib Bin Rashid, consultant at 10 Minutes School.

Ashoka Young Changemakers ED Yashveer Singh in his keynote speech said, “Youth is when people start to change. The word entrepreneur comes from the French word, which means risk taker. Youth is the age when people are ready to take risks. At that age you are thinking, doing, reshaping, and changing your way of thinking. But there will be obstacles in our society. It is necessary to change that mindset. Today's panelists brought up very important points. If you remove these obstacles, you will see the light of hope.”

Youth employment, health, access to justice and good governance, and political participation dominated the open discussion. The issues of proper recognition, initiatives and contributions of youths were also emphasised in the discussion. It also shed light on the limited opportunities of the youth and its possible causes at various stages of decision-making, programme management, planning and implementation at the state, social and institutional levels.

BRAC's Migration Programme and Youth Initiatives head Shariful Hasan said, “BRAC always favors youth. I joined BRAC at a very young age as Programme Head. I have changed a lot since then. Empowering the youth, their views prevail at BRAC. But unfortunately in Bangladesh the youth do not dominate the policy making space. A minister does not become a minister when he/she is 25 years of age. As if we cannot trust them. Therefore, the involvement of youth in policy making and decision making is very necessary.”

Bidyanondo Foundation founder Kishor Kumar Das observed, “In Bidyananda Foundation, except for 2-3 people, everyone is young. We have full faith in the youth. We have someone who is 22 years of age, working in a very big position in our foundation. I Let them make mistakes. A lot can be learned from mistakes.”

BRAC’s Youth Platform, a recently initiated programme, is working with a number of initiatives to assist youths in developing their innovative and creative capacities, ensuring mental and physical health and wellbeing, and promoting their participation in solving social issues.

It has also established the Amra Notun Network to develop and integrate individual and social empowerment and values, innovative skills and leadership qualities of the youths. Through this network BRAC’s Youth Platform provides regular training to the young people, particularly aged from 18 to 25 years, and supports them to implement community projects.