Dr Ashrafi Ahmad, Additional Secretary (Population, Family Welfare and Law Wing), Medical Education and Family Welfare Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare made a commitment based on the young people’s demand that "16767" the call centre about family planning will be free to call and they'll take the initiative for it at Bangladesh 8th National Youth Conference on Family Planning (BNYCFP) organised by SERAC-Bangladesh start on Tuesday.
This two-day esteemed event, a cornerstone of youth engagement and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) advocacy in Bangladesh, has been a recurrent success since its inception in 2016, read a press release on Tuesday.
The session “ Act, Change and Sustain: Building Resilience and Foundation Life Skills among Adolescents” was led by Mott MacDonald and moderated by Bob Fryatt, Lead, International Health and co-moderated by Dr Shamima Akhter, Health Scientist and Economist, from Mott MacDonald.
Panel speaker Dr Md Shamsul Hoque, Program Manager of Adolescent & School Health Program and Director General of Health Services emphasized on the holistic co-ordination of government and local partners to ensure community-level health service.
Dr Shahana Nazneen, Technical Expert (Adolescent Rights) inspired the participants to know about their rights and transform them into skills. Sumaiya Akter Mim, Volunteer Peer Leader, Vakurta Union Sastho O Poribar Kollyan Kendra, Savar shared how they are working to educate adolescents and seek more support to engage the parents as well.
Dr Manjur Hossain, Program Manager (A and RH), MCH-Services Unit, DGFP praised the Volunteer Peer Leader model by SERAC-Bangladesh that they will try to engage them in other adolescent-friendly health centres. Ms. Ayesha Siddiquee, Deputy Director (Planning), Department of Women Affairs highlighted that it is adolescents’ right to get priority on investments for development.
The first day was closed by inspiration to join the second day with the hope of more exciting sessions with more knowledge and networking.
