United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in association with the ICT Division, organised The Digital Khichuri Challenge for the seventh time since 2016, with the hope to make the digital space safer, and work towards a more tolerant Bangladesh. The Grand Finale was held this March. Team 'Cyber Saver' was the winner, and 'N te Nari, N te Nirapotta' was the runner up in the students/campaigns category. In the start-up category, 'TransEnd' was the winner and 'Cyber Teens' the runner up.

CrossRoads Initiative is a platform that connects Bangladeshi university students both at home and abroad, with high-school students to build peer-to-peer mentorships. Founded by Sadid Hasan in 2019, the organisation intends to help prospective university applicants with proper resources and guidance. The mentors provide students with online and offline support for preparation in SAT and IELTS tests, as well as university admission in general.

The theme of this summit is ‘Journey towards an inclusive Bangladesh’. BYLC held the third day of the summit on August 6. The day began with a debrief of the previous session and discussion on leadership, followed by Plenary: Role of youth in building an Inclusive society and Workshop: Translating Vision into Action II.

The theme of this summit is ‘Journey towards an Inclusive Bangladesh’. With the focus on diversity and inclusivity, BYLC executed the second day of the summit on August 5. The second day of the summit began with a discussion on leadership, followed by Plenary: Living on the Edge and Workshop: Translating Vision into Action.

SK Shoaibur Rahaman founded Agri-Science Society (AgSS), a non-profit agricultural organisation, in 2019. Being a student of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, he has been actively working with farmers, students, and organisations to promote agricultural digitalisation.

Moriom is a master’s student in the Department of Disaster Management, University of Dhaka. She hails from Sherpur upazila in Bogura. Her parents are teachers by profession.

Rabindranath Tagore was a polymath who revolutionised Bengali literature and music. Let us revisit “Kabuliwala”, one of his most famous short stories.

Sayeed Rimon, also known as ‘Shochetonotar Feriwala’, has been raising awareness about different social issues for the last 12 years.

This year, Jubayer Ahmed from Hathazari Government College and Muhammed Mohiuddin Sourav from Adamjee Cantonment College won the silver medals. Additionally, Nafesa Anzum Helaly from Viqarunnisa Noon School and College won the bronze medal. 

Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC) began their four-day Youth Leadership Summit on August 4. The virtual summit, supported by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the UK, brought together over 300 delegates from 149 educational institutions across 45 districts.

Championing positivity and social change, Shuvasish Bhowmick, the founder of father-son singing duo Baap Ka Beta, recently initiated a campaign “Mullobodh Er Paathshala”. The campaign hosts live sessions with celebrities and youth influencers, discussing good practices of moral values, which are becoming very rare in our current society.

Cholo Swpno Chui (CSC), a youth-led social organisation founded by Muhtasim Abshad Zisan, supports orphans and people with physical disabilities, through their different projects. Recently, the organisation started a campaign, ‘Project Oporajita’, which aims to provide menstrual support to women from underprivileged communities.

Following a research study that was conducted on crisis-led approaches to education in Bangladesh, a virtual panel discussion was organised yesterday. Titled Towards a Blended learning framework for post-pandemic Bangladesh, it was jointly hosted in partnership with Cardiff University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), a2i (Aspire to Innovate) and #NextGenEdu.

S M Sammam Sakti Ibn Sahadat from Bangladesh won the 4th Annual ISIE INDIA Excellence Award 2021, earning the title of ‘Visionary Leader’ from the judges of the ISIE INDIA Excellence Award committee.

Jannatun Nayeem Nowshin, a young architect and researcher from Bangladesh, won the gold medal in the architecture category of the Asia Young Designer Award 2019.

Md Tajdin Hassan started exploring marketing trends soon after he graduated from BRAC University. He won the YWN Marketing Excellence Award 2020 from the Asia Marketing Federation under the category, ‘Top Outstanding Youth Marketer of the Year’.

Foundation 21 was initiated by a group of friends in March 2018. It aims to combat period poverty, and create awareness about menstrual hygiene. Abreshmi Anika Chowdhury, Arish Islam, Mashrukur Rahman Khan and Sayem Ibn Alam, founded the organisation.

12 Vaja, a Rajshahi based organisation, is a social platform for the transgender community. The platform aims to bridge the gap between gender conforming and gender non-conforming individuals to create a tolerant and inclusive society.

Hasna Hena is a seventh grader who wants to be a judge. Luckily, I was her English Language Trainer from September 15 to November 15, 2020, organised by Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB). My task was, in this particular time period, I had to complete 360 minutes of conversation in English with her over phone.

After medical graduating, I came to Dhaka for my internship training. Since my third medical year, I made my mind to pursue a public health career. During my internship life, I started actively searching for public health study options. Luckily, I found Zillur Rahman, a brilliant engineer and public health professional, in the third batch. I have known him since my school days. I still remember what he said that helped me decide in favor of BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health (JPGSPH), "If you go to Harvard, you will only find the best teachers of Harvard teaching you. If you go to Hopkins, you will be taught only by the best Hopkins teachers. But if you join BRAC JPGSPH, you will find the best teachers of the best public health schools around the globe."