Friendship, an international Social Purpose Organisation, hosted a seminar titled “Technological Education and Social Awareness to Tackle the Challenges of Climate Change in Char Areas: The Perspective of the Friendship Education Programme” recently.
“With the support of the Malala Fund, the extent of damage caused by natural disasters in the Jamuna-Brahmaputra char areas has been significantly reduced,” the speakers remarked at the seminar held at the CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka, according to a press release.
The seminar was attended by Professor Nehal Ahmed, director general of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, as the chief guest. Special guests included Runa Khan, founder, Friendship; AQM Shafiul Azam, director of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education; and SM Hafizur Rahman, professor at the Institute of Education and Research, University of Dhaka.
In her speech, Runa Khan mentioned that students from Friendship schools are participating in conferences, seminars, and programmes in various developed countries. As part of this initiative, students from the schools attended the European Youth Event (EYE) in France in June, 2023, and Conference of Parties COP28 in Dubai in December of the same year.
Additionally, under the Friendship Education Programme (FEP), students are learning strategies to combat climate change and the resulting disasters from their schools. Students are subsequently disseminating this knowledge within their families and communities, the release added.
Brigadier General (Retd) Ilyas Iftekhar Rasul, senior director and head of Friendship Education, highlighted the success of the Friendship education programme in combating climate change. He stated that for over two decades, Friendship has been conducting primary, secondary, and adult education programmes in the char areas of the Jamuna-Brahmaputra in northern Bangladesh.
“Over 6,000 students are studying in the 44 primary, 16 secondary, and 49 adult education centres operated by Friendship. In addition to academic education, these schools, with the support of the Malala Fund, teach climate change mitigation, raise awareness, and train students in strategies to adapt to adverse conditions,” he also said.
For this purpose, the “Digital Literacy, Connectivity and Climate Resilience Project (DCCP)” has been implemented, he further added.
The seminar was attended by Friendship’s Senior Programme Manager Neamat Ullah, Programme Specialist Sakhawat Ferdous, journalists from various national media, and other relevant officials and experts.
