The British Council Bangladesh, in partnership with Civil Society organisations including Democracywatch, Shushilan, The Hunger Project, Uttaran and Wave Foundation, organised a National Youth Summit under its one of youth focused projects called PRODIGY (Promoting Democratic Inclusion and Governance through Youth) at the Bangla Academy today.
PRODIGY has developed the knowledge and skills of 540 young people to engage the wider community through volunteer activities including youth club activities, theatre performances, internships with local government, community radio programs and public dialogues, creating platforms and channels to ensure that the wider community has access to government information. PRODIGY also supports innovative and creative ways to ensure that marginalized communities receive the information and guidance they need to enable participation in, and contribution to, social change.
The National Summit of PRODIGY invited around 500 young people from PRODIGY network in Dhaka to provide them a platform to showcase their brilliant work in the community to increase people’s access government information and services.
Dr. AAMS Arefin Siddique, Honourable Vice Chancellor, University of Dhaka, was present at the event as Chief Guest. Barbara Wickham, Director, British Council, Bangladesh, was also present among other eminent personalities. Osama Bin Noor, winner of 2016 Queen’s Young Leaders and member of Active Citizens, shared his inspiring story in the session.
‘Bangladesh now is going through a very important phase of its history. For at least the next 15 years, the country is going to have a large portion of its population at optimum working age, who, with the right guidance and initiative, could take Bangladesh to the next level of socio-economic and democratic prosperity. Integrating education with social initiatives is extremely important for young Bangladeshis to take the country forward as they move along,’ said Dr. AAMS Arefin Siddique.
‘‘The British Council recognises Bangladesh as a country with very high potential for rapid development. One of the major driving forces of that optimism is the large number of Bangladeshi youth. They will take Bangladesh towards fast economic growth and social prosperity. We are working very hard every day to make sure young Bangladeshi citizens are equipped with the right knowledge and awareness to materialise the possibilities ahead of them. PRODIGY is part of numerous similar activities we undertake,’ said Barbara Wickham.
PRODIGY is one of British Council’s many initiatives to enrich the youth of Bangladesh with the knowledge and skills to grow into productive and visionary members of the workforce.