Celebrating International Youth Day 2017 Bangladesh

On 12 August 2017 to celebrate the International Youth Day 2017, almost 600 rural youth specially young girls joined together in four different areas of Bangladesh (Rangpur, Khulna, Barisal, Rajshahi). Despite bad weather in the rural areas, the enthusiasm of the young people was never less. The day was celebrated by interactive sessions between youth and government officials, drama and role models' motivational speeches. The experiences of the role models triggered the aspiration among young people to bring positive change in their lives and encouraged them to fight against the odds and pursue their dreams. According to a young female participant in Rangpur said

I have never thought I would be able to think myself as a person who would work and will contribute to her family. But after listening to our role model's life experience I think I can also become a symbol of strength.

On 13 Ausust, 2017 EYW team of Oxfam in Bangladesh hosted a facebook live programme with the Secretary In Charge, Md Ashadul Islam, Ministry of Youth and Sports who discussed about "Implementation of National Youth Policy 2017". The event got more than 990 views, 109 comments and 23 shares within 24 hours of the broadcast. This is the first time a top level government official used social media to reach out to the rural youth and not only limit interaction among urban youth. Rural youth from 4 districts and beyond have watched the programme and posted their questions. From these questions some of the major questions focused on the implementation of the national youth policy and suggestions to include young people in the process. During answering these questions the honorable secretary in charge said:

Our next course of action is to develop a National Action Plan for the implementation of National Youth Policy and we surely will include young people's voice in this process