Dhaka: Thirty young political leaders affiliated with Bangladesh Awami League (AL), Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jatiya Party (JaPa) graduated today (July 11, 2019) from theYoung Leaders Fellowship Program.’ Democracy International (DI) awarded the young leaders with graduation certificates during the ceremony held at the Ascott Hotel in Dhaka.
Top political leaders participated in the graduation ceremony including 1) Dr. Hasan Mahmud, MP, Minister, Ministry of Information, The Peoples Republic of Bangladesh; 2) Selima Rahman, Member, Standing Committee, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP); and 3) Ashraf-Ud-Daulah, Advisor to Chairman, Jatiya Party (JP). The leaders voiced their support for empowering youth leadership in parties to build a tolerant and participatory political environment in Bangladesh.
This 12th fellowship program began in April 2019 and the fellows have completed monthly residential training in Dhaka on topics including internal party democracy, campaign management, fostering media relations, and strategic political communications. In their districts, the fellows worked together across party lines to solve key issues in their communities including waterlogging; resolving mosquito infestation; road reconstruction; and restoring water reservoirs. During the graduation ceremony, the young leaders shared the success stories of their cross-party advocacy campaigns with their top party leaders.
Since 2012, over 250 mid-level grassroots and national political young leaders have graduated from the Young Leaders Fellowship Program. The fellows have engaged over 15,000 youth activists in advocacy campaigns and other programs in their communities. This program was organized under the Strengthening Political Landscape (SPL) project co-funded by USAID and UKaid and implemented by DI.
About USAID: The U.S. Government, through USAID, has provided more than $6 billion in development assistance to Bangladesh since 1971. In 2016, USAID provided nearly $200 million to improve the lives of people in Bangladesh through programs that expand food security and economic opportunity, improve health and education, promote democratic institutions and practices, protect the environment, and increase resiliency to climate change.
About Ukaid: The UK supports democracy around the world through country-specific support, and by working to develop an international political environment supportive of democratic transitions. They work with regional organisations (the EU, the AU, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Commonwealth) to strengthen their democracy work. – Press release
