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Mentioning the youth as the driving force for the country’s development, speakers at a webinar on Wednesday said it is essential to analyse ‘disengaged youth’ as they have been affected during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The young generation suffered most during the international disaster as their education, employment and mental health received severe blows, they said.
They also said the widening digital divide and limited access to information are the main challenges of the country.
The observations were made at a virtual dialogue on “Disengaged Youth in Bangladesh: Who, Why and How?” jointly organised by the Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh and UNDP Bangladesh on the occasion of International Youth Day 2021.
Convenor of Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh and Distinguished Fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya discussed the ‘disengaged youth’.
Exploring the youth, who are disengaged from economic, political and social norms and practices, he said the country needs to explore an effective solution alongside the existing youth-centric institutions and policies that have not yet been visibly successful in capturing the youth’s aspirations and challenges in Bangladesh.
The noted economist also mentioned that there is a difference between alienated and disengaged youth.
Resident Representative of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Bangladesh Sudipto Mukherjee emphasised the theme of this year’s International Youth Day.
Mukherjee said, “We need to find more innovative ways to accelerate efforts to address the skills and information gap, which have become more visible due to the pandemic. The digital divide, access to information and … are the main challenges in our country.”
Researcher and Activist Maha Mirza said, “We are experiencing a lack of policy discourse to address the huge number of the youth population disengaged from the country’s socio-economic development process.”
Transgender rights activist Tashnuva Anan Shishir also pointed out the absence of specific policies and other legal facilities.
Executive Director of Youth Engagement for Sustainability (YES), Bangladesh Shamim Ahmed said that more focus should be given on youth skill development and employment to contribute more towards the economy.
The dialogue was moderated by Senior Research Fellow of CPD Towfiqul Islam Khan, its Joint Director of Dialogue and Outreach Avra Bhattacharjee, Tea Garden Worker Rights Activist Mohon Rabidas among others took part in the webinar.
