Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken stock of the activities and progress of Bangladesh's largest youth network, Young Bangla, stressing the need to reach out to the youth at the grassroots to hear their voices and engage them in the pursuit of changing the course of national progress.
A team, accompanied by CRI Trustee and State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, comprising staffers of the Centre for Research and Information (CRI), a non-profit organization, and Young Bangla, exchanged views with the premier at her official residence, Ganabhaban, on Tuesday, reports UNB.
During the discussion, the prime minister stressed the need for empowerment and inclusion of the youth and for scaling up the startup ecosystem, which would enable them to become self-employed instead of looking for jobs.
Young Bangla team members apprised her of its signature initiative, “Let's Talk,” at the grassroots level for the last couple of months, opening up the opportunity for rural youth to speak about their concerns and ideas before policymakers. The prime minister also listened to observations of youth accumulated by the platform through its series of interactive sessions.
Photos of the prime minister standing with the team members have gained traction on social media, with many young members registered with the platform calling this interaction “an exciting step that would reap more dividends for the youths.”
According to last year's government census, the country's current youth population stands at a staggering 45.9 million.
Last year, the premier joined Young Bangla as a member, drawing overwhelming applause from the members of the network with many changemakers calling it a “source of inspiration.”
A Whiteboard reader
The prime minister also revealed that she is a consistent reader of the country's first policy magazine, Whiteboard, another initiative of CRI. The magazine analyzes and narrates the policies in Bangladesh.
Radwan Mujib Siddiq, a trustee of CRI, is the editor of the magazine. A diverse pool of writers from home and abroad writes for the magazine.
Launched in 2020, the quarterly policy magazine has released six editions so far, covering a gamut of issues with regard to policy analysis.
