Mr. Md. Arifur Rahman, Chief Executive of Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) made a two-day visit to observe the ongoing activities of YPSA in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar from May 27 to 28, 2023. He firstly visited activities of the project titled, “Youth from Host Communities & Rohingya Camps in Cox’s Bazar as Agents of Change” being technically supported by Plan International Bangladesh and funded by BMZ German. The three other projects that he visited included “Champions of Change (CoC)” supported by Plan International Bangladesh, “DIC of HIV prevention program” backed by Save the Children, and “USAID YouthRISE Project” supported by BBC Media.
Dr. Shamsun Nahar Chowdhury Lopa, a member of the YPSA General Committee; Mr. Mohammed Shahidull Islam, Assistant Director and Head of the Rohingya Response; Mr. Jishu Barua, the Program Manager; Ms. Afra Nawar, the Youth Coordinator; Mr. Md. Rashedul Karim, the Project Coordinator of the YPSA-PLAN-BMZ project and Mr. Ruhulla Khan Kamal, the Project Coordinator of the CoC Project, were all present during the visit.
He spent two days visiting various components of the “Youth from Host Communities & Rohingya Camps in Cox’s Bazar as Agents of Change” project, including SOYEE beneficiaries’ homes, a small shop run by a female beneficiary, goat raring by a female beneficiary, 2 youth clubs/learning centers, 2 digital information centers (DIC), and successful beneficiaries who received TVET or mentor-mentee approach training and Ongoing Mentor-Mentee approach training.
The Chief Executive highly appreciated the changes in the lives of beneficiaries under the project. He witnessed that with a small amount of support from the project, the beneficiaries made variety of livelihood initiatives that have economically and socially empowered them, particularly the female youth and adolescent under the project.
The project beneficiary received only a small amount of support from the project, but by making the most of this opportunity, they are succeeding in their daily lives. After the visit, the chief executive expressed joy to witness the beneficiary’s development and complimented them
The Chief Executive met some of those who had been affected by Cyclone “MOCHA” in Shah Porir Dwip under Sabrang Union of Teknaf Upazila. In that part of Sabrang Union, YPSA was the first organization to respond and provide emergency support to the affected people. He conducted a Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM) among the Mocha affected people who were provided emergency support in the Shah Porir Dwip. He visited the affected households and talked to the community people.
On the other hand, he also attended the Champions of Change (CoC) session at the Sabrang Government Primary School under the CoC project. He inquired about the learning from the youths and adolescents under the CoC Project.
During his visit in Teknaf, he inaugurated the field level activities of the project titled, “USAID-YouthRISE Project” supported by BBC Media “. He talked to the youth and adolescents of the Youth Listener’s Group under the project “Youth Rise”
Also, he visited the DIC of HIV prevention program. He observed the activities under the project. He held a coordination meeting the project.
