My journey with Youth for Policy and IID started by taking part in the Policy Camp 2018 in Jashore. Before that I was not aware of how policies and laws are formed and whether youth can have a voice in the policy making process. This five-day residential workshop taught me how to gather evidence from the field and properly communicate the findings to the policy makers.
After the training, I got selected for a four-month Fellowship by Youth for Policy. As part of the fellowship, I visited the Technical Training Center of Rajshahi. The fellowship helped me to gather first-hand experience of finding out the problems that migrants face throughout the process of migration and raise awareness among them and also understand their opinion about the effectiveness of policies and what needs to change.
When I joined the round table organized by IID and Prothom Alo on the 4th Industrial Revolution that helped to understand what the required skills for the future world of work and also thoughts of policy makers about youth’s future.
I took part in the Gender and Social Inclusion training by IID with fellow volunteers of the network. This training changed my whole perspective about inclusiveness. I realized that women and people from socially vulnerable groups (for example ethic minority, disable, and transgender) are as capable as men to contribute in the society. I believe that this training made me a gender sensitive person as it changed my stereotypical thinking about gender role.
Youth for Policy also provided me the opportunity to connect with the change-makers from home and abroad. I represented the network at Frugal Innovation Forum 2019, along with two other volunteers. Since that forum was on scaling opportunities for the youth, it opened many future avenues for me that was beyond my imagination.
“ The Gender and Social Inclusion training made me a gender sensitive person as it changed my stereotypical thinking about gender role.”
– Md. Minhazul Abdin
Few days ago, in February, I attended the ‘Youth Policy Conclave: Future of Work’. 25 young leaders from 18 districts joined this conclave and talked about how we dream for Bangladesh to look like in 2041. We sorted our common goals and what needed to be done to turn them into reality. We created a Youth Manifesto and handed it over to the policy makers. This manifesto reflects our voice and urges the government with specific policy recommendations.
I received ToT on PolicyCampX, a hybrid training on policy advocacy that is going to be held in 23 districts of Bangladesh. As a peer, I will facilitate the training for the youths in my own community. This training on one hand will help me to create a greater impact on what we learn and at the same time more youth from grassroots will be involved in our country’s policy making process.
It has been two years since I am with this platform. Because of this network, I have friends across the country now! Beyond everything, all these works and opportunities created the trust in me that as a youth, my opinion also matters in policy decisions of the country.
