“Nothing about us, without us” was the motto of the Global Citizenship Education Workshop 2015, organised by UNESCO. It was a congregation of 45 young delegates chosen from different regions. The plenary sessions, followed by a resolution gave us a clear understanding of how to take initiative and change the world. A fresh graduate of Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center’s (BYLC) 11th “Building Bridges through Leadership” program, I was eager to apply what I had learned and was enthusiastic about making a positive change. One day, when exchanging ideas with other delegates, we learned that a more effective outcome is possible if we work together.
Our projects were similar on many aspects, all promoting one core issue; leadership and active citizenship. Simultaneously we were being trained to promote SDGs and global citizenship education. We wondered, how can we merge our ideas and promote them in an organized way? And so the idea for Echo Change was born - an international platform that will undertake projects on global citizenship education and inspire young people to make a positive change in their communities. It began as the dream initiative of 12 youth delegates from different countries. We wanted to create a platform where young leaders from around the world could share their projects and knowledge, and develop their leadership skills. We formed our core team at first, then expanded our activities. Currently, Echo Change has 12 country chapters, with Pakistan, Morocco and Canada being the most active ones.
Once the workshop ended, we returned to our respective countries with renewed vigour, ready to take on the world! We started building our dream piece by piece. We soon realised, working across borders was not as glamorous as it seemed when all of us were in different places. The formation and coordination of the core team was at stake due to time and location differences, and the struggles had only begun. Since it was a startup, we had very low funds and none was allocated for a website and we found that nobody was willing to work for free.
However, our struggles paid off when we became official partners of UNESCO in August 2015. The partnership with UNESCO opened new avenues for us, and I along with the core team, were invited to the UNESCO Youth Forum 2015. By then, my woes with the website were solved and companies started to approach us voluntarily. While the website serves as a platform to create awareness about different social issues, we also have an online radio which we use to broadcast success stories of young leaders from around the world. Our most successful campaigns were the #WorldAtSchool campaign to ensure child education and the #DrawDisability campaign for the inclusion of people with disabilities, which were both supported by the UN secretary general’s Global Education First Initiative.
I am currently leading the Bangladesh chapter, which has faced a multitude of challenges regarding registration and authorisation. However, my hopes and ambitions are far-reaching. Many young people are working on different projects in their respective communities, and many of those projects do not materialise for lack of exposure and other constraints. Echo Change will be the platform where they can present and improve their ideas. This will help them reach out to potential allies and create an integral network of young leaders. By conducting workshops, seminars and symposiums, we want to disseminate global citizenship education so that each young person feels that he/she is a part of the greater world, which will in turn make them more inclined to work on global issues altogether.
All it took was a connection between some passionate young people to converge on the single goal of bettering our world. I have realised that if I had let my fears and insecurities get hold of me before taking an initiative, I would have missed out on Echo Change, and I would have missed out on my passion. I encourage my fellow youth to reach out and be involved in inclusive spaces and platforms that encourage collaboration. Sometimes it’s alright to take risks, if one believes in the cause. At the end we have to empower ourselves because if not we, then who? If not now, then when?The writer is a graduate of the 11th “Building Bridges through Leadership” program and is currently studying at IBA, University of Dhaka. Admissions are open for BYLC’s Youth Leadership Summit. Apply at www.bylc.org/summit2016