Speakers at a recent dialogue opined that the nation’s youth needs to develop skills to become successful entrepreneurs and establish youth leadership in society.
They also demanded the concerned authorities ensure youth representation in all areas of the society, including the national parliament.
These were the key talking points at the first ever “Peace and Harmony Dialogue” which was recently held at EMK Centre in the capital’s Gulshan, organised by the Films for Peace Foundation under the Youth Engagement in Democracy project, in collaboration with the Manusher Jonno Foundation.
Parvez Siddiqui, Managing Director of Films for Peace Foundation delivered the welcome speech at the event and spoke about the Youth Engagement in Democracy project.
In two sessions, the challenges faced by young people in becoming entrepreneurs came up in the dialogue. Besides, the guests gave several suggestions and recommendations to face those challenges.
Artist Tipu Munshi, dancer Pooja Sengupta, fashion designer and educator Afsana Ferdousi, and former Chief Executive of Bangladesh Tourism Board Javed Ahmed spoke to the youth in attendance, in the first session titled 'Opportunities and Challenges' moderated by Dr Maqsuda Sultana.
In the second session titled 'Skill Development for Success', Films for Peace Foundation founder-director actress Rokeya Prachi moderated the discussion, which was joined by caregiving expert Shilpi Akhter, writer Sakib Rayhan, National Hotel and Tourism Training Institute Food and Beverage Head Zahida Begum, Directorate of Information and Communication Technology Project Specialist Manik Mahmood, and well-known speaker and corporate personality Solaiman Sukhon.
The main objective of the dialogue was to bring together emerging youth and veterans from different sectors of the country to exchange their experiences and find new ideas and solutions. The other key focus of the dialogue was to discuss effective ways to ensure the economic empowerment of the youth, how to support them in education, employment and entrepreneurship development.
Besides, the speakers emphasised introducing a life-oriented education system by coordinating the current education system and employment.
The dialogue discussed ways to improve the talent and nurture innovative skills and creativity of the youth and provided the guidance they need to fulfil their dreams and contribute significantly to the socio-economic development of Bangladesh.
The event concluded with Banasree Mitra Neogi, Director (Programme) of Manusher Jonno Foundation delivering the closing speech and handing over crests to the guests.
