Youth of the Nation 2010

Thursday, 05 May 2011

On the 2nd of May 2011, JAAGO Foundation hosted the second ever Youth of the Nation Award Ceremony. The 'Youth of the Nation 2010' Ceremony was held at the Shahid Shohrawardy Indoor Stadium (Mirpur) and was sponsored by Airtel Bangladesh. The program began at 6:30 p.m. and finished at approximately 9:30 p.m.

Youth of the Nation is a yearly award program organized by JAAGO Foundation. This program is a platform through which young people of our country get recognized for their contribution to the betterment of the society. This program, even though organized predominantly for the youth of the society, sets no age limit for award recipients. The ceremony was undertaken this year with the objectives of awarding the most achieving volunteers, recognizing the contributions of our most dedicated corporate partners and of course, acknowledging exceptional contribution to the society.

The ceremony awarded volunteers, institutions and corporate bodies under nine different award categories. The winners this year were,

  1. Best Partner School 2010 - Sunny Dale
  2. Best Partner University 2010 - United International University (UIU)
  3. Best Group in Wonderland 2010 - Black Group
  4. Best Captain in UCD 2010 - Farhan Shirazi
  5. Best Corporate Partner 2010 - Graphics People
  6. Best Partner Organization 2010 - 1 Degree Initiative
  7. Highest Fundraising Point 2010 - Gulshan 2
  8. Lifetime Achievement Award 2010 - Valerie Taylor
  9. Youth of the Nation 2010 - Ivdad Ahmed Khan Mojlish

The event began at 6:30 with the introductory speeches from the Honorable Guests, the Head of Marketing, Airtel Bangladesh, Mr. Nauman Fakhar and renowned actor, entertainer and politician Mr. Asaduzzaman Noor, Mr Faukhar spoke about the youthful image of Airtel and how technology is helping to connect people everywhere and facilitating the betterment of society, while Mr. Noor spoke at length of the importance of political participation of the youth for the betterment of Bangladesh and urged the young audience to take a stand for corruption free politics. This was followed by a few words from the Special Guest, Acting Director of British Council, Mr. Matthew Knowles and the Honorable Guest U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, Mr. James F. Moriarty. Mr. Knowles spoke about how young people these days are eager to do something god for the society but often find themselves unable to find a proper organization to aid them. He then went on to praised JAAGO Foundation and the other present organizations like 1 Degree Initiative and AISEC for facilitating the youth with an outlet. The two minute speech given in Bangla by the Honorable Ambassador to the U.S., was perhaps the most amazing part of the formal section of the event. The young audience clapped with pride and joy as Mr. Moriarty went on to address them in Bangla.

Around 200 corporate representatives attended the event including Ms. Geeteara Choudhury, Mr Nazim Farhan Choudhury, Mr. Akku Chowdhury, Mr. Garrett Wilkerson, Ms. Farzana Chowdhury and Mr. Baizid Huq. The ceremony was also attended by over 1500 young people from all over Dhaka city, from various social and academic backgrounds. A team from DeshTV covered the entire event.

The ceremony progressed with the distribution of the awards as well as some videos, skits and performances by the volunteers and children of JAAGO Foundation.

The event closed with the official photo-shoot of the Universal Children's Day 2010 volunteers.