Key leadership from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), including Country Director Mr. Dipankar Datta and Area Manager Mr. Mahadi Muhammad, visited the Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) Head Office today for a high-level participatory strategy meeting. The delegation met with members of YPSA’s Core Management Team (CMT), Senior Management Team (SMT), and key thematic focal points to review ongoing collaborations, reflect on shared operational milestones, and outline future strategic directions.
The meeting opened with a presentation by Ms. Nasim Banu, Director of the Social Development Department at YPSA, who presented an overview of YPSA’s mission, core values, primary thematic focus areas, and its four-decade legacy of grassroots development achievements.
Building on this foundation, Mohammad Shahjahan, Director of YPSA-KM4D and Focal Person for the YPSA-NRC Project, highlighted the evolution of the two-plus-year strategic partnership between YPSA and NRC. He traced the trajectory of their joint initiatives, which began with pioneering action-based action-based research on the Housing, Land and Property (HLP) rights of displaced Rohingya people in Cox’s Bazar, home to the world’s largest refugee camp. The collaboration has since grown to include responses to the Easter flood of 2024 in Feni and Noakhali, the flash floods of 2025 in Moheshkhali and Teknaf Upazilas of Cox’s Bazar, and emergency education in the Rohingya camps. Both organizations are now working together on the 2026 monsoon crisis in Cox’s Bazar and emergency education on selected Rohingya camps.
Reflecting on YPSA’s organizational trajectory—from its beginnings as “Young Power” to its growth into “Young Power in Social Action”—Dr. Mohammed Arifur Rahman, Founder and Chief Executive of YPSA, detailed the organization’s institutional strength, strong community trust, and long-term Strategic Plan. He said “The development landscape is shifting rapidly. While practitioners face increasingly complex operational obstacles, new opportunities emerge simultaneously. Development organizations must proactively identify and leverage these opportunities. YPSA remains committed to evolving as a fully localized leader—serving as the primary community-rooted first responder during crises.”
In his address, Mr. Dipankar Datta, Country Director of NRC, shared insights from his extensive international humanitarian experience and his past one-and-a-half years leading NRC’s operations in Bangladesh. He emphasized NRC’s core priority of acting as a first responder in eastern Bangladesh during emergencies, focusing heavily on conflict-induced displacement, protection, emergency education, and strict safeguarding standards for both service recipients and partner organizations.
Mr. Datta extended special recognition to YPSA for its leadership in conducting the joint HLP action-based research in Cox’s Bazar. He noted that the research stands out as a unique and groundbreaking contribution to the sector due to its intentional inclusion of traditionally marginalized populations—specifically third-gender (Hijra) and LGBTQI individuals—who are often left behind in standard development frameworks. He shared that the NRC leadership team is actively exploring ways to integrate these inclusive research findings into future program design and operational frameworks.
Complementing these remarks, Mr. Mahadi Muhammad, Area Manager of NRC, expressed his appreciation during his second visit to YPSA’s headquarters, commending YPSA’s proactive approach to adopting emerging development issues and its forward-thinking mindset in planning future interventions.
The meeting concluded with reciprocal expressions of gratitude between Mr. Dipankar Datta and Dr. Mohammed Arifur Rahman. Both organizations reaffirmed their shared vision to deepen localized emergency response, scale inclusive protection programs, and strengthen resilience across vulnerable host and displaced communities in Bangladesh.
