State ministers of two crucial ministries in Bangladesh have promised to roll-out initiatives for the young entrepreneurs and employees hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr. Md Enamur Rahman and State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD) Swapan Bhattacharjee aired the words of optimism on Friday night at the second episode of Let’s Talk organised by Young Bangla to discuss the array of initiatives taken up by youths to deal with covid-19 crisis.
The virtual session, conducted by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's special assistant Barrister Shah Ali Farhad, was also attended by Mohammad Zainul Bari, secretary at Social Welfare Ministry, Korvi Rakshand, founder ofJAAGO Foundation, Israt Farzana Tanni of Young Bangla, KamrunNesa Mira, a winner of Joy Bangla Youth Award, and Rafi Hoque Ontor of Volunteer for Bangladesh.
Following the discussion with youths, Israt Farzana Tanni as their representatives came up with a handful of recommendations for the youths bearing the brunt of the coronavirus crisis.
The recommendations include the rise in the participation of youths in the national youth council, receiving the suggestions of youths into account during the detailed assessment on National Youth Action Plan, incentivising and recognising the organisations of young entrepreneurs, and allocating funds for social innovation funds urgently.
She also recommended involving youths, to a greater extent, in social safety net management, disaster preparedness and management, community-based health programs, and national service programs to fight the Covid-19 crisis.
“The scopes of youths in the projects geared towards boosting local and export income must be increased,” said Israt Farzana Tanni.
Youths advocated for an autonomous organisation dedicated to the interests of youths in addition to preparing a list of all young volunteers and volunteering organisations in the country.
Following the recommendations placed by Tonni, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr. Md Enamur Rahman said, “I will talk about allocating funds for the youths who turned jobless. They have to be endowed with loans with low or no interests to reinvigorate their businesses.”
“Youths account for 37 percent of the country’s total population. We have to formulate fresh initiatives for them. Youths may be offered many scopes of work at the local and social welfare ministries through incentives. We have to go a long way with Covid-19. We have to keep the youth force active. There is no alternative to complementing their efforts.”
State Minister Swapan Bhattacharjee said: “There should be required guidelines and training geared towards catalysing and channelising the efforts of youths. Financial support should be provided where required. I fully agree with the recommendations.”
Zainul Bari, secretary at the Social Welfare Ministry, said, “We have urban community development projects in the city corporations and urban areas. There are many scopes for youths to work for different projects over there. We offer different pieces of training and small loans. Youths can harness that opportunity to create self-employment opportunities for themselves.”
“Besides, if we can involve youths at the field level to a greater extent, we will be able to select underprivileged people appropriately,” he went on saying.
There will be a total of seven episodes taking place between Friday and Sunday.
Shuchona Foundation Chairperson and Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) Thematic Ambassador SaimaWazed Hossain will deliver her speech in the ending session on the third day.
Ministers, state ministers, lawmakers, government officials, and high officials of the private sectors are interacting with youths in almost all the sessions.
Young Bangla has been organizing 'Let's Talk' since 2014 to create a bridge between the country's policymakers and youths.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina graced the program with her presence before the 2018 election.
Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy also interacted with youths in a handful of episodes of 'Let's Talk'.