Prime Minister’s ICT Adviser and CRI Chairman Sajeeb Wazed Joy will announce the Joy Bangla Youth Award 2023 winners at a ceremony in Savar, on the outskirts of the capital, tomorrow.

The country’s biggest youth award giving ceremony, recognising the efforts of young visionaries to turn around their communities, will kick off at 2:20pm at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Youth Development at Savar.

This year marks the seventh edition of the ceremony. The event will be aired live on private television channels in addition to its broadcast on the Facebook pages of print, electronic, and digital media. CRI, the ruling Awami League’s research wing, will air the event live on its Facebook page.

The award will be given in six categories after selection from more than 750 applications from all over the country.

According to Young Bangla, the country’s largest youth platform which organizes the event, the field visit was done after scrutinizing the applications initially received this year. From there, the names of the final winners will be announced.

The award recognizes the best youth organizations in Bangladesh for their humanitarian work and contribution to society. The biggest youth platform Young Bangla has been hosting Joy Bangla Youth Award since 2015.

In the previous six seasons, 145 youth-led organizations have been honored through this award. Along with that, their success story has been presented to the people of Bangladesh.

This year, the awards are given to organizations of people aged 18 to 35 in six categories. The categories are skills and employment, arts and culture, community well-being, social inclusion, climate and environmental innovation and communication. Organizations under this category include women empowerment, child rights, empowerment of persons with disabilities, empowerment of backward people, employment and innovation, creativity and entertainment, knowledge and capacity development, empowerment of the extreme poor, environment and climate change, health care, socio-cultural initiatives, disasters risk reduction and emergency service delivery.

Young Bangla is currently working as the largest youth platform with more than 300 organizations in addition to the organizations that received the Joy Bangla Youth Award.
 
Along with these organizations, more than 50 thousand volunteers and more than 3 lakh members are associated with Young Bangla. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina became a member of Young Bengal in May 2022.

Since its inception in November 2014, Joy Bangla Youth Award, named after the historical pro-liberation slogan ‘Joy Bangla’, Young Bangla, the youth front of CRI, has been awarding young people of organisations run by young people whose vision and initiatives catalysed positive change in society.

The government of Bangladesh and the World Bank today signed a $300 million financing agreement to equip about 900,000 economically disengaged rural youth with skills and alternative education needed for employment and entrepreneurship. About 60 percent of them will be female.

The Economic Acceleration and Resilience for NEET (EARN) Project will help overcome barriers that prevent disadvantaged and vulnerable youth from gaining education and employment. It will provide skills training, alternative education, employment, and entrepreneurial support to rural youth who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET). The project will establish vocational training centers to offer a range of skills development opportunities and provide online and offline training courses in market-driven and futuristic trades. They will be in locations convenient to rural youth, especially female. It will also and offer competitive financing and mentorship support for entrepreneurial activities. It will help secondary school dropouts, particularly female students to complete vocational secondary education. 

“The youth are the future of any country. Creating a well-equipped competitive workforce, where no young person is excluded, is a critical development priority for Bangladesh,” said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan. “The project will help develop a competitive workforce through skill development, continuity of education, and employment opportunities while addressing underlying cultural and social norms that drive exclusion, particularly for women, people with disabilities, and ethnic minorities.”

In Bangladesh, about 27 percent of youth that is about 12.6 million people are classified as NEET. About 90 percent of them are female, mostly living in rural areas. To enhance their employability, the project will offer skills development training for a wide range of market-relevant trades with an emphasize on modern and non-traditional trades, especially for women.

For secondary school dropped-out youth and adolescents, the project will provide access to Bangladesh Open University education programs through an accelerated curriculum. They will be able to access diploma-level technical education in fields such as nursing, medical technology, agricultural food processing and other courses. To support entrepreneurship, the project will provide seed financing, mentorship, and other relevant supports to the new entrepreneurs. 

 “The government placed high priority on economically engaging the youth, particularly female and disadvantaged ones, who are not in education or employment through skill development,” said Sharifa Khan, Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Government of Bangladesh. “This project is aligned with the Eighth Five-Year Plan 2021-2025 and support the country’s graduation from LDC status in 2026 and the vision 2041. It will support the government plans and policies by establishing a comprehensive support mechanism for economic engagement of the rural NEET youth, including the persons with disabilities, and segment of the population with special needs, which is essential.”

To create a supportive environment for youth to participate in skill development activities, the project will launch communications and awareness-raising campaigns and involve the communities in planning and monitoring the project activities. It will also provide incentives in terms of stipend, examination fees, and textbooks to motivate the youth, especially women. It will also promote sports and cultural activities and provide psychosocial support to youth.

The agreement was signed by Sharifa Khan and Abdoulaye Seck on behalf of the Government and the World Bank, respectively. 

The concessional credit is from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period. 

Bangladesh currently has the largest ongoing IDA program totaling $15.86billion. The World Bank was among the first development partners to support Bangladesh and has committed about $40 billion in grants, interest-free and concessional credits to the country since its independence.

Grants of up to $250,000 USD for eligible organizations in Bangladesh will support Internet knowledge and skills, increasing economic inclusion and educational opportunities

The Internet Society Foundation has announced a new round of its grant program to promote economic growth and increases educational opportunities by provisioning individuals and communities to use the Internet in more efficient way. The Strengthening Communities, Improving Lives and Livelihoods (SCILLS) program is now open to eligible organizations in Bangladesh.  Grants of up to $250,000 USD will be awarded to organizations for projects lasting up to two years.

The program is now open for applications, starting May 1^st, 2023, with completed applications due by May 31, 2023. Provisional award notifications will take place in August 2023.

According to the Digital 2023:Global Digital Insights in Bangladesh, 38.9 percent of individuals are using the Internet. The Internet Society Foundation is seeking projects in Bangladesh that aim to capitalize on this expanding access by securing educational opportunities and/or supporting economic inclusion for underserved and unserved communities. This includes: leveraging the Internet to increase access to high-quality primary and secondary education and improve learning outcomes; improving virtual teaching and distance learning methodologies and skills; building financial opportunities; increasing economic independence; and creating sustainable income sources. 

“The Internet has the power to transform lives, but access alone is not enough,” said Sarah Armstrong, Executive Director of the Internet Society Foundation. “We must ensure that everyone has the skills they need to make the most of the opportunities that the internet provides. Our goal is to empower individuals and communities with the necessary knowledge and skills to leverage digital technologies and tools, and to participate actively in the digital economy.  This new round of SCILLS program grants will support organizations that connect underserved communities with the critical digital skills needed to unlock economic growth and educational opportunities.”

Beneficiaries in Bangladesh of the SCILLS grant last year include:

• Tech Soup in partnership with Teach for Bangladesh – promotes the use of mobile Internet for learning in Bangladesh, building the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors for 5,000 marginalized children, 200 teachers, and 2,000 parents to adopt online learning.
• Christian Aid- is building a vibrant community of female small business owners in Kurigram District, Bangladesh, through the power of e-commerce.
• Foundation for Learning Equality – supporting teaching and learning with locally relevant learning resources for use in low-connectivity learning environments.

The SCILLS program operates in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. With this round, the six target countries are Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia, and Senegal.

Applications must be submitted through Fluxx, the online grant management system. If a project and organization meet the eligibility requirements, they will be invited to submit a full application.  More information can be found at: https://www.isocfoundation.org/grant-programme/scills-grant-programme/.