Speakers at a program here have called for greater youth participation in Bangladesh's local governance for attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
They said this at the two-day event on "Local Governance Issues" began at the National Institute of Local Governance office on Wednesday.
The event was organized by Efficient and Accountable Local Governance (EALG) project of the United National Development Programme (UNDP) in association with the Local Government Division of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.
The workshop brought together 52 young researchers from different public universities who received Tk160,000 research grants in groups or as individuals.
The grants are provided by the EALG project of UNDP, in partnership with the Institute of Bangladesh Studies (IBS)- University of Rajshahi, Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), and National Institute of Local Government (NILG).
They are expected to enhance understanding on local governance issues of the researchers and improve their skills, said a press release.
Speaking at the inauguration session of the workshop, Amitavh Sarker, additional secretary, Local Government Division and EALG National Project director said: "This is the first time the Local Government Division with support from UNDP, took an initiative to create a platform for young researchers to work on local governance issues and come up with results."
He urged the youth to work for achieving the SDGs, leaving no one behind.
Among others, Md Zahirul Islam, deputy National Project director of EALG project; Md Mozammel Haque, policy specialist of UNDP Bangladesh; Abu Shahin Md Ashaduzzaman, project coordinator of EALG project were also present in the training.
Strengthening local governance has been a key focus of the government of Bangladesh and UNDP and as a part of its continuous interventions, UNDP, in collaboration with SDC and DANIDA, has developed the EALG Project with the aim to strengthen the capacities of local governments ( Upazila Parishads and Union Parishads) to foster participatory local development in the rural areas.
