Daffodil International University (DIU) is set to host a national virtual conference on ‘Industrial Technology Innovation Management for Sustainable Economic Development of Bangladesh’ on September 25, 2021. The inaugural session followed by a plenary session of the conference will be held live from 5 pm on DIU’s official Facebook page and Campus TV, along with Zoom. American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham), Bangladesh Association of Call Center and Outsourcing (BACCO) and Skill.jobs are the co-host organisations of the event.

The Business Club of University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) conducted a webinar on challenges and pportunities in international trade on September 16.  Amer Salim, Director of Knit Asia Limited and Aurum Sweaters Limited, was the guest speaker for the event. 

The virtual National Seminar, “ Accelerating Progress and Equity in Education during the Pandemic in Bangladesh" was organised by the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) at North South University (NSU) and KASpaces of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), Germany, on September 18 and 19. 

Nafi Ahmed intends to integrate skateboarding, a unique sport, into the lives of Bangladeshi youths. In line with that thought, he founded the group, Sk8 Platoon, with his peers, Arfi Shahid and Shaquat Hossain, in October 2020.

Dream School, an online based platform, emphasises on fun and innovative techniques to engage children.

With the motto to stimulate the idea of values and positive change, Shuvashish Bhowmick, founder of father-son singing duo Baap Ka Beta, initiated the campaign, “Mullobodh Er Paathshala". This campaign hosts live sessions with renowned celebrities, authors, and experts on the importance of morals and values. The fifth episode, titled "Does or can literature play a role in developing values?" was held yesterday, featuring Chamok Hasan, Research & Development Engineer at Boston Scientific Corporation and Mahrin Ferdous, an author by passion and profession who has been affiliated with literature for the past decade.

Team Kilo Flight, a group of students from Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET), participated in the UK’s Formula Student (FS) this year virtually.

Established in 2008, the Millennium Campus Network (MCN) is a non-profit organisation that trains 21st century social impact leaders. Bangladesh has been selected for the 1st time in the MCN this year. In 2018, the organisation expanded the fellowship programme by partnering with United Nations Academic Impact to assemble, contest, and revel undergraduate leadership for SDG and UNAI principles. Out of all the applicants, only six percent of them are chosen on the basis of the ideas that can prove to be progressive for a nation. 17 fellows from AUW, 13 fellows from BRACU, 14 fellows from BUP and 11 fellows from CU were selected from Bangladesh.

A little over a year ago Nusrat Rabiya Lubaba began her social initiative, Charity Scrunchies, in an attempt to help her parents provide for the underprivileged during the pandemic. Lubaba is an A-level student, determined to help those in need as much as she can to the best of her ability. We reached out to her to find out more about her work.

‘Tiger widows’ are women who tragically lost their husbands to tiger attacks at villages near the Sundarbans. In 2018, Asikuzzaman Asik formed the Initiative for Coastal Development (ICD) to rehabilitate tiger widows as well as people of the Munda community from poverty, social stigma, and natural disasters.

BYLC Volunteer Awards: Pandemic Heroes 2021 was launched on Thursday, September 2. Winners were selected from over 800 individual and over 70 organisation submissions across 64 districts.

30-year-old Mugdha* a transgender woman of Rajshahi, still depends on traditional healers or dispensaries when she feels unwell, considering the disparities she faces at hospitals.

Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF) organised a webinar themed around International Youth Day, titled “Role of Youth Workers in Preventing Violence”, on August 31, via Zoom. It was broadcast live from their Facebook page.

In an effort to advocate positivity and social change, Shuvashish Bhowmick, founder of father-son singing duo Baap Ka Beta, started the campaign, “Mullobodh Er Paathshala". This campaign hosts live sessions with celebrities, influencers, and experts on the importance of morals and values. The fourth episode, titled "Can we value people’s faith properly?" was held yesterday, featuring Golam Murshed, Managing Director & CEO of Walton Hi-Tech Industries Ltd. and Ghulam Sumdany Don, Chief Inspirational Officer of Don Sumdany Facilitation & Consultancy.

To curb the spread of Covid-19 infections, educational institutions have been shut all over the world. As a result, e-learning has become the preferred mode of education. Due to the socio-economic condition of JAAGO’s students, there is no alternative to conducting classes other than through mobile phones. JAAGOs Tel-Ed initiative, which started in June 2020, is one such programme that utilises mobile phones to conduct classes.

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.

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.

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.

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.   

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.