Youth-led innovations awarded Tk 600,000
Three business plans of the youth groups of five districts in the country have won a total of Tk 600,000.
The competition, 'Youth Led Innovation Lab', was organized by the international development organization Save the Children in Bangladesh among the youth of Dhaka, Cox's Bazar, Moulvibazar, Sylhet and Satkhira districts. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd winners were selected through a final competition on Thursday.
The team- ‘Coco- Shar’ won first position, innovating the business model of producing organic manure for urban agriculture with useless household items.
Md. Azharul Islam Khan, Director General, Department of Youth Development, was present as the chief guest in the final selection ceremony. He told the youth, "In all your efforts and initiatives, the youth development department promises to support you. Don’t look for jobs, I believe you all are capable to create employment opportunities for more youths. I am overwhelmed with your ideas and innovations. I wish you success.”
The competition began with the announcement in and around Save the Children's project area at the five districts. In each district, young people between the ages of 16- 24 had sent their team-based plans to Save the Children and a three-day workshop has been conducted in each of the district to select champions from each area. In the workshop, local government officials, private sector representatives and experts working in the field of social enterprise selected a total of 7 business plans from 5 districts.
The 7 teams are- Ureka Group (Dhaka), Coco-Shar (Dhaka), Sylhet Learning and Earning (Sylhet), Moulavibazar Bijwala (Moulavibazar), Jagoroni Social Enterprise Hub (Moulavibazar), Satkhira Swapna Konnya (Satkhira), Sholo Ana Khati Dudh (Satkhira), Sagor Parer Hostoshilpo (Cox’s Bazar).
On March 29-30, a boot camp was held in Dhaka with these seven planning teams, where their plans were re-mentored. Along with Save the Children's experts, officials from government agencies like BADC, BSTI and private companies like I-Farmer, Lal Teer, Nogordola, BASIS also mentored the teams through a two-day workshop who had given plan related to their respective sector.
On Thursday, the winning teams at the district level presented their plans to the judges at a hotel in Dhaka. Judges included government officials, staff from international donors, businessmen, youth development experts and engineers. After the presentation each team described their plans in one minute. The jury decided the final three winners.
A total five teams have been awarded in the three positions. Winning the first position, team Coco-Shar received Tk 200,000 from Save the Children in Bangladesh. The second winning team Satkhira Swapna Konnya received Tk 100,000 while in third position team Ureka Group, Moulavibazar Bijwala and Sholo Ana Khati Dudh won Tk 100,000 each.