Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the ‘Dhaka OIC Youth Capital 2020’ in a virtual ceremony on Monday.
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) secretary general Yousef bin Ahmad Al- Othaimeen, Minister of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan Azad Rahimov, and President of Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF) Taha Ayhan will join the prime minister along with other global leaders at the event.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen disclosed this at a virtual press conference on Saturday. State minister for youth and sports Md. Zahid Ahsan Russel was also present.
Russel briefed the history and background of OIC Youth Capital saying, “OIC Youth Capital, initiated by ICYF is the yearly gathering of the youth of the Muslim world that constitutes one third of 1.5 billion Muslims of OIC region.
“The capital is aimed to bring the youth together through certain activities, conferences, conventions, festivals and other special events. The goals of the initiative are to foster inter-cultural and inter-civilizational diversity and to unite the Muslim youth of the members of OIC countries under one platform to share among themselves and to turn up the Voice of Youth.”
He said Dhaka being the youth capital for this year was a “testament to the technologically empowered and advanced Bangladesh”.
The inauguration declaration programme will be followed by a virtual youth summit titled “Resilient Youth Leadership Summit” on July 27 and 28.
Some 250 shortlisted youths out of more than 1200 applications from 75 countries will meet expert panelists in various day long activities to learn and craft the strategies to build a Resilient World, particularly, in the context of this Covid-19 pandemic situation in those discussions.
Youth across the globe will visit the Rohingya Camp in Cox’s bazar virtually and sensitize them with the plights of these persecuted people and discuss with humanitarian experts to concoct how accountability and justice can be ensured for them.
The foreign minister said they had to scrap the initial launching plan in April due to pandemic.
He said the COVID-19 has “only accentuated the underlying rationale for the theme of this year’s edition ‘Resilience for Parity and Prosperity’.”
He also highlighted the proposed “OIC COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund” to cushion against the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to support Bangladesh migrant workers living in OIC member states during this crisis.
A series of events will be organized at the OIC Youth Capital Dhaka 2020 including OIC Scout Leaders E-Meet: People for better planet, Bangabandhu Youth Leadership Award, Holy Quran Recitation Competition, Film Festival: Lockdown by the Lence, OIC Knowledge Master: Quiz competition, Art Exhibition: Creativity to create better world, Debate Competition: Topics on new Free world, Youth Bootcamp – Leadership, Youth development, Entrepreneurship, and Skill & Employment Camp.
Dates of these events will be confirmed later, the foreign ministry said.
