Sunday 12 August 2018

The British Council Bangladesh, in partnership with Civil Society organisations including Centre for Communication and Development (CCD), Democracywatch, Rupantar, Rural Reconstruction Foundation (RRF), SIL International, Shushilan, The Hunger Project, Uttaran, and Wave Foundation, have celebrated International Youth day on 12 August 2018 in 25 locations of Rajshahi, Khulna, Shatkhira, Chuadanga, Dhaka and Manikganj districts.

This year the theme for International Youth Day 2018 is ‘Safe Spaces for Youth’. Youth need safe spaces where they can come together, engage in activities related to their diverse needs and interests, participate in decision-making processes and therefore freely express themselves. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, specifically SDG 11, emphasizes the need for the provision of space towards inclusive and sustainable urbanization.

Active Citizens and PRODIGY (Promoting Democratic Inclusion and Governance through Youth) youth leaders jointly celebrated this day with numerous activities. More than 8000 young people along with representatives from local government, Department of Youth Development (DYD), civil society, electronic and print media attended in these events.

To celebrate the International Youth Day, youth leaders organised different activities including small seminars, community clean-up program, showcase their brilliant work in the community to increase civic participation in local government and social cohesion and harmony enhancing activities like, sports and cultural programme.

Barbara Wickham, Director Bangladesh, British Council said, “The next generation of young people in Bangladesh have a key role to play in improving the overall socio-economic status of the country and our flagship youth social leadership programme Active Citizens has already supported nearly 40,000 young people to develop their skills and the country need."

Notes to Editor

For further information, please contact:

Arshia Aziz, Head of Marketing, Communications and Digital, British Council, Bangladesh

Email: Arshia.Aziz@bd.britishcouncil.org

About the British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We work with over 100 countries in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Last year we reached over 75 million people directly and 758 million people overall including online, broadcasts and publications. We make a positive contribution to the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We receive 15 per cent core funding grant from the UK government. www.britishcouncil.org

Active Citizens

Active Citizens is a social leadership training programme that promotes intercultural dialogue and community-led social action, through civic engagement or volunteering in around 30 countries. Run by the British Council and partner organisations, it aims to increase the contribution of community leaders towards achieving sustainable development both locally and globally. It also encourages peer-to-peer relations across cultural, geographic and political boundaries via a lively online social network of participants, as well as occasional international exchange visits. In Bangladesh, the programme has developed the leadership capacity of more than 32,000 young people who have demonstrated their leadership skills through more than 2,000 social action projects to make a positive change in their communities.

More information about Active Citizens is available at https://www.britishcouncil.org/active-citizens