Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, convener of The Youth Conference 2018 and Distinguished Fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has said the participation of the civil society alongside private companies and thegovernment is important to the implementation of SDGs.
The economist said this at a press conference held at Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific(CIRDAP) International Conference Center organized by Citizens’ Platform for SDGs, Bangladesharound 10:30amon Saturday.
He also observed that nearly 30% of the total voters this election will be young, so the voice and aspirations of the youth should be heard and considered when designing policies for national development.
Today's youth will lead the implementation of various programs at a national level in order to help in the development of the country, Debapriya added.
We have to understand the sentiment of 30 million youth voters, who have become new voters over the last 10 years. This means one in every three voters is a young voter, so theleaders of the country must be aware of this notion, and they must cater to the wants and needs of the youth for the sake of the country, else the interests of our youth population will not be met.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation also emphasized and elaborated on the importance of engaging youth in the implementation ofSDGs.
He also said the main purpose of the platform is to play an active role in the process of implementing the SDGs, and to make the process effectivethrough transparency.
At the event,Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh announced that they would organize a day-long conference titled Youth Conference 2018: Bangladesh and Agenda 2030 - Aspirations of the Youth on October 14, 2018 in Dhaka.
The objective of the conference is to make the youth aware of SDGs and their roles in implementing the goals among the young people living in urbanand ruralareas.
It is expected that around 2,000 representatives of youth groups from different parts of the country will be present at this conference.
The website, logo,registration system, and photography and short-film contests for the conference were all launched at the media briefing.
