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Prioritise adolescent and youth issues

Speakers say at roundtable

Staff Correspondent
Ninth-grader Nafisa Mehrin of Holy Cross Girls' High School in Dhaka has found a box at a dedicated corner of her school where she can drop written questions related to adolescence. Her question is picked up by a counsellor designated for the school, under a flagship project called "Generation Breakthrough" of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The counsellor provides answers to Nafisa's queries in the same box.
"This is very helpful," Nafisa said at a roundtable yesterday at The Daily Star Centre. UNFPA and The Daily Star jointly arranged the roundtable on "Safe Spaces for Youth", marking International Youth Day.
The youngster also said many of her schoolmates, who cannot share all of their problems with family members, found this to be beneficial.
Alongside issues related to adolescents, speakers at the roundtable pointed out challenges like unemployment, low num-
ber of university graduates, and lack of awareness on reproductive health.
They stressed the need for collective efforts from both government and nongovernment organisations to create better opportunities for youths.
Mentioning government statistics, Eshani Ruwanpura, chief of adolescent and youth unit of UNFPA Bangladesh, said that 48 million people in Bangladesh are youth.
Such a huge number of young people are assets. However, there are challenges like low percentage of university graduates, high unemployment rate among young population, and high prevalence of child marriage, she said.
Ruwanpura said policymakers, including those in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Women and Children Affairs should give priority to issues related to adolescents and youths.
“A national youth policy and action plan should be implemented while
adequate budget allocation is required to address youth issues," she said.
Jeroen Steeghs, head of Development Cooperation, Charge d' Affaires, Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands, said youths should be provided with required information regarding health issues.
He said his country has been working with Bangladesh government for creating better a future foryouths.
Ejaj Ahmad, founder and president of Bangladesh Youth Leadership Centre, said alongside government initiatives, private and civil society bodies have to come forward to create safe spaces foryouths.
Mahftiz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, said the newspaper is committed to issues related to the youth, including
their achievements in all sectors.
Referring to the recent student movement, he said, "It is a clear sign that they have ideas and thoughts which are better than many others'.”
Korvi Rakshand, founder and chairman of JAAGO Foundation, said alongside youths living in urban areas, those in villages should also be heard.
As more young people are active on digital platforms, looking at their intellectual safety is essential, said Sheema Sen Gupta, deputy representative of Unicef Bangladesh.
Prof Md Abdul Maleque, director of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, said the country's youths are committed working for the betterment of society.
UNFPA Representative in Bangladesh Asa Torkelsson, also spoke at the roundtable.