Dhaka, 16th October: The Democracy International (DI) on Tuesday convened 167 young political leaders affiliated with Bangladesh Awami League (AL), Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jatiya Party (JP) at a national conference that provided the leaders with a platform to promote peaceful elections through peaceful coexistence. The attendees were active alumni from DI’s Young Political Leaders Fellowship Programme.
At the conference, the young leaders participated in sessions that focused on success stories of cross-party initiatives to improve local issues in communities; developing strategies for peaceful coexistence among political parties; and advancing the leadership of women and youth in upcoming elections. Later, they worked across party lines to develop action plans and recommendations to promote peaceful elections to present to their senior party leaders. They will be implementing programs in their communities as part of the Shantite Bijoy (Win with Peace) campaign. With the national elections approaching, DI recently launched the Shantite Bijoy campaign to engage and raise awareness among registered political parties, candidates, and citizens in Bangladesh on the importance of peaceful elections and tolerant politics.
Panellists
at the event included:
Bangladesh Awami League: Delwar Hossain, Forest and Environment Affairs Secretary, Central Working Committee and Former President, Bangladesh Chattra League; Reazul Kabir Kawser, Member, Central Working Committee, AL
Bangladesh Nationalist Party: Azizul Bari Helal, Information Affairs Secretary, National Executive Committee and Former President, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Central Committee; ABM Mosharraf Hossain, Training Affairs Secretary, National Executive Committee
Jatiya Party: Fakhrul Ahsan Shahjada, Organizing Secretary, Central Executive Committee
Katie Croake, Chief of Party, Democracy International, said, “I’m inspired by the positive impact these young leaders are making by working across party lines to improve their communities. I’m very optimistic that their plans to promote peaceful and participatory elections will be successful.’’
Since 2012, over 250 mid-level grassroots and national political young leaders have graduated from DI’s Young Political 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.
