On the occasion of International Youth Day (IYD), JAAGO Foundation hosted a series of webinars on the 22nd of August 2020. Summit Corporation Limited was the key supporter of the event, whereas IPDC, Annisul Huq Foundation, SBK Foundation, Kludio, and Bongo were the webinar partners. This was a whole day program that was streamed live on JAAGO’s Facebook page. There were 6 webinars on the topics Youth in Leadership, Youth in Innovation, Youth Engagement in Policy, Youth in Crisis Management, Youth in Entrepreneurship, and Youth in Art & Culture.
Mr. Korvi Rakshand, Founder & Executive Director- JAAGO Foundation, hosted the first webinar on “Youth in Leadership”. Ms. Ambareen Reza, Co-Founder & MD, Foodpanda, Mr. Ejaj Ahmed, Founder & President of BYLC, Mr. Sudipto Mukherjee, Resident Representative-UNDP, Mr. Nahim Razzaq MP, Member of Parliament, People’s Republic of Bangladesh were the speakers at the panel. Many interesting insights came up in the discussion like how female leadership is met with a lot of challenges and how Bangladesh may be more accepting than other neighboring countries on this matter.
Ms. Ambareen opined that her content isn’t taken seriously because of her gender. ‘Let your work speak for itself. Regardless of gender, what are the individuals doing for society is what should be highlighted’. Mr. Ejaj commented that leadership is a work that needs power and the ability to take on responsibilities. Embracing diversity and living in unity. Mr. Nahim spoke about how to overcome and learn from failures. He said that the young generation needs to be familiarized with government practices and placing them with internships so that they can be more skilled to be part of social changes.
He also mentioned how the youth of the country showed immense courage by distributing relief without caring about their own safety. Mr. Sudipto emphasized on what leadership skills the youth should be involved in post-COVID and how the young people should invest more in health and particularly in mental health as a prerequisite to become a good leader.
The webinar titled “Youth in Innovation” was attended by Ms. Sonia Bashir Kabir, Founder, SBK Foundation, Mr. Mominul Islam, Managing Director & CEO IPDC Finance, Mr. Ayman Sadiq, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Robi 10 Minute School and Mr. Tajdin Hassan, Chief Marketing Officer, The Daily Star. Ms. Sonia noted that universities should focus on Research and Development to be prepared in advance and what the youth should focus on providing new ways to solve problems instead of relying on existing technology.