Seventeen-year-old Tamanna Aktar Nura was born with no arms and only one leg. She earned the highest GPA in her high school graduation exams. She took the exams by holding a pen between her toes.

Footsteps Bangladesh, a social organisation, intends to address various challenges such as access to safe and clean drinkable water, sanitation, waste management and disaster response to create vital development tools for underprivileged communities. The organisation conducted a range of activities to support underprivileged communities during the pandemic.

Oman Jafar and Sneha Mahjabin, two Bangladeshi students, have bagged the first and second prizes in the World Quiz Competition of the International Virtual Debate Festival, held in Bangladesh.

Born and raised in Bangladesh, Labib Tazwar Rahman co-founded Neubility, a Seoul-based start-up that develops autonomous food-delivery robots using vision-based localisation and path planning technologies. The platform researches and develops camera-based self-driving solutions and robotics technology, and focuses on last-mile autonomous robot delivery service.

Seeking an equal and inclusive society, Brihonnola relentlessly works with the transgender community. The organisation intends to include transgender individuals in the mainstream society, while promoting gender equality in Bangladesh. Sadikul Islam started Brihonnola in 2018, along with an executive team of 15 members, amongst which most were transgender people.

Pursuing higher education at a foreign university is a dream for many, but the associated costs may be a hurdle. In this case, financial aid and scholarships are helpful.

Rakib Al Hasan from Bangladesh won the Outstanding Young Leader of Asia Award 2021 from the Asian Youth Council for his work in children’s and women’s rights, education, health, democracy, and peace. Youths around the world are doing important work during the coronavirus pandemic. For the first time, the Asian Youth Council, a well-known youth organisation in Asia, organised this award programme to provide such young leaders with opportunities.

Skipping is a playground staple for people of all ages. Rasel Islam, a teenager from Thakurgaon, has commandeered the sport with two Guinness World Records to his name.

International Economics Olympiad (IEO) is an annual competition for high school students that intends to stimulate their interest in the field of economics, business, and finance through a creative problem-solving approach.

Championing positivity and social change, Shuvashish Bhowmick, founder of father-son singing duo Baap Ka Beta, took an initiative called, “Mullobodh Er Paathshala”. This campaign hosts live sessions with celebrities, influencers, and experts on the importance of morals and values. The third episode, titled "Are we aware of discipline and wellness?"  was held yesterday, featuring Shahriar Nafees, former player of Bangladesh national cricket team and the first captain of Bangladesh T20 team and Dr Saklayen Russel, Assistant Professor and Head of Department- Vascular Surgery of Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital.

Mir Sakib, CEO of Cramstack, was inducted in the 2021 Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list, under the category of Enterprise Technology. Cramstack is a startup that uses artificial intelligence to automate the extraction of information from unstructured data to provide insights for businesses.

American Concrete Institute (ACI), a Michigan-based international professional organisation, recently hosted the Concrete Projects Competition, an annual event for undergraduate students from all across the world. This year, it was organised virtually.

22-year-old Sarkar Tanvir Ahmed Tanim, the founder and acting president of Youth Parliament, is one of the nineteen changemakers from Bangladesh who received the 2021 Diana Award.

Gulnahar Mahbub Monika is one of the nineteen Bangladeshi changemakers to receive the 2021 Diana Award. She is the youngest female athlete of Bangladesh to earn this accolade.

Summit Corporation and Beximco Holdings, two of the country’s largest conglomerates, awarded a matching grant of BDT 45 million per annum for three years to JAAGO Foundation, enabling them to educate 4,000 students across Bangladesh.  JAAGO utilides their UNESCO award winning teaching model using ICT to ensure education over telephone calls, short messaging service, and video conferencing systems. This is even more important while the education institutions are closed due to the pandemic. Once the education institutions open, the grant will be used to run the digital schools. This is the first time two local conglomerates are jointly contributing such a large amount to a local Non-profit Organisation.   

A smile, a shine, a twinkling, a dream -- the divine innocence in the midst of uncalled for struggles -- for survival, for existence, for identity, to be heard, to be noticed. How far do their visions reach? For some, it’s an apprehension what the life has to offer the following day and for others, every day’s struggle is a source of strength to move on to the next unknown.

The ’Youth for COVID Response Barishal’ initiative is a collaborative effort by Lal Sabuj Society, Barishal Blood Donors Club, SNDC Bangladesh, Hasimukh Poribar, Youth Plan for Society, Sohochori, Manobi, Ucchash, and Oshohay Manusher Pashe, alongside unaffiliated young volunteers. On this International Youth Day, we spoke to the gallant members of the organisations.

The International Youth Day, celebrated every year on August 12, enables us to acknowledge the manifold prospects and perspectives of our youth. The day is marked as an opportunity to assess the future for the global youth, and set objectives for their betterment in accordance with contemporary world requirements. This year, we are observing the International Youth Day under the theme “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health,” which carries a significant notion of the youth’s contribution towards the established food systems and wellbeing of humans and the planet.

The Department of Criminology of the University of Dhaka (DU) organised the 3rd International Conference on Criminology and Forensic Science in Global South August 8 and 9, 2021. This year, they commemorated three celebrations, including the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, centenary celebration of the University of Dhaka, and Golden Jubilee of the independence of Bangladesh, during the conference. The conference was arranged in collaboration with Ryukoku University, Japan and the National Forensic Sciences University, India.

Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC) concluded their Youth Leadership Summit on August 7, 2021. The event was supported by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the UK. Through a number of planeries and workshops, the summit facilitated an intergenerational dialogue on issues and challenges that limit the youth’s inclusive participation in public, private, and civil sectors.