The Bangladesh Alliance of Youth (BAY) held a day-long youth festival at the Chattogram Zila Shilpakala Academy on Sunday, 28 Jan, 2023. The festival was organized to highlight the importance of building a young generation with knowledge, skills, and critical thinking, and to showcase the potential of young people to bring about global change through their ideas and initiatives.
The festival was presided over by Abdus Sabur, the youth focal point of YPSA (Young Power in Social Action), and moderated by Sanaton Chakraborty Bijay, member secretary of BAY. The chief guest was A T M Peyarul Islam, chairman of the Chattogram District Council. Special guests included panel chairman Borhan Uddin Emran, social worker Muhammad Shahjahan Chowdhury, deputy director of the Chattogram District Social Service Office Md. Faridul Alam, deputy director of the Chattogram District Youth Development Department Projesh Kumar Saha, and YPSA project manager Sanjida Akter and Senior regional manager of Democracy International Sadrul Amin.
Speakers at the seven sessions of the youth festival included Jiku Chowdhury, Kayes Mohammad Saiful Islam, Sohel Hossain Munna, Kawsar Bin Sarowar, Dr. Mohin Uddin Liton, A N M Tamjid, Md. Shahadat Hossain, Md. Afif Ibrahim Majumder, and Jannat Annika.
Seven organizations were awarded the Organization Award 2023 in five categories: volunteerism, youth and women’s activities, education and culture, debate, and climate change mitigation.
In the speech session, ESDA was selected first and CU Environment Parliament was selected second.
It is worth mentioning that the Bangladesh Alliance of Youth, a network of Chattogram’s youth, was established in 2021 through a joint initiative of YPSA (Young Power in Social Action) and Save the Children. Currently, the network has over 30 youth organizations associated with it.
Key Highlights of the Youth Festival
- Cultural program
- Drawing competition
- Participative discussions
- Women and child safety: The role of youth in preventing violence against women and children, raising awareness about women and child rights, etc.
- Climate crisis and the role of youth: The impact of climate change, the role of youth in addressing climate change, etc.
- Protection of disadvantaged children: Raising awareness about the rights of disadvantaged children, the role of youth in the development of disadvantaged children, etc.
- Philosophy of volunteering: The importance of volunteering, the role of youth in volunteering, etc.
- Debate program
- The festival focused on the importance of building a young generation with knowledge, skills, and critical thinking.
- Speakers at the festival highlighted the potential of young people to bring about global change through their ideas and initiatives.
Quotes from Speakers at the Festival
- “The youth are the future of our country,” said A T M Peyarul Islam, chairman of the Chattogram District Council. “We need to invest in their education and development so that they can contribute to the development of our country.”
- “The youth are the driving force of change,” said Jiku Chowdhury, a youth leader. “We need to come together and work together to create a better future for our country.”
