A three-day Youth Leadership Summit with the theme ‘Connect, Collaborate, Co-create’ has been concluded at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.
About 400 students from across seven countries took part in the summit hosted by Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC), said a press release. With financial support from UKAid, the summit brought together university students and young professionals for three days of exploration, leadership training, and networking. “The summit facilitated intergenerational dialogue which is critical in finding innovative solutions to the problems we are facing as a society today,” said BYLC chairperson Akhter Matin Chaudhury at the
summit. Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was present as a chief guest at the opening ceremony of the three-day youth meet. Speaking on the occasion, the Speaker said, “BYLC is doing the important work of building bridges between people from different backgrounds and creating a shared vision for our future.”
Highlighting UKAid’s commitment to youth development in Bangladesh, Jane Edmondson, DFID Country Representative, said “The new Sustainable Development Goals look forward to a world where the Goals have been met for everyone. It is young people who have the biggest stake in this future, and it is young leaders who will make it happen, here in Bangladesh and worldwide.” The Prime Minister’s International Affairs Adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi and State Minister for Youth and Sports Dr Biren Sikder also addressed the occasion while former Warden of Keble College in Oxford University, Sir Christopher Ball presented the keynote.
This year’s leadership faculty included Ejaj Ahmad, Founder and President of BYLC, and Harvard professors, Dr. Dean Williams and Dr. Hugh O’Doherty. The leadership sessions centered on examining the opportunities and dangers of exercising leadership in an uncertain world and collectively exploring creative solutions to society’s most urgent challenges. Dr. Dean Williams spoke about how current leadership practices are insufficient to enable progress, and stressed the importance of crossing boundaries to exercise leadership in a fractured world. Experts from different sectors participated in thematic plenary sessions on globalization, education, and entrepreneurship to explore the nuances of leadership within different contexts. Former BYLC chairperson Manzoor Hasan OBE presided over a session on leadership in an inter-connected world where the United States Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Abrar Anwar also spoke.
