A United Nations report states that today’s youth must work tirelessly to maintain the world’s balance and biodiversity and to produce safe and nutritious food for all.
।। Tapan Chandra Roy ।।
International Youth Day has been celebrated on August 12 like every year. Most countries all over the world celebrate the day to encourage the existing youth of a country in development activities, economic dynamism, discipline and peace, social cohesion, justice and tolerance, and social development. In 1997, the United Nations World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth was held in Lisbon, Portugal, and it was proposed to celebrate August 12 as International Youth Day. In this context, the UN General Assembly in 1999 decided to observe the day as ‘International Youth Day’ and since then this day has been observed in different countries of the world.
The theme of International Youth Day 2021 was “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health”, with the aim of highlighting that the success of such a global effort will not be achieved without the meaningful participation of young people.
A United Nations report states that today’s youth must work tirelessly to maintain the world’s balance and biodiversity and to produce safe and nutritious food for all. It is estimated that the world’s population will increase by 2 billion in the next 30 years, and it will be very dangerous if the increase in nutritious food production for this huge number of people is not ensured. To this end, the UN Plan prioritizes education, employment, hunger and poverty, health, the environment, drug abuse in youth, juvenile delinquency, leisure activities, girls, youth, women, and the full and effective participation of youth in life and decision-making.
In this context, Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “We cannot always build a future for our youth, but we can always build our youth for the future.”
The contribution of the youth in Bangladesh from birth to the present is undeniable. Our youth have played an important role in any exhaustion of the country including the language movement of 1952, the six-point movement of 1966, the mass uprising movement of 1969, the election of 1970 and the subsequent non-cooperation movement, the great liberation war of 1971, and the anti-authoritarian mass uprising of 1990. It’s really worthy that, to achieve targets in Vision 2021 and 2041, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Bangladesh has formulated the National Youth Policy 2017 to ensure the active participation of the larger youth population at the local, national, and international level through their integrity, efficiency, and responsibility which also helps in achieving the SDG by 2030.
At present, about half of the total population of Bangladesh is aged 15-49 years old. Due to the active participation of this large number of working people, the wheel of Bangladesh’s economy is still relatively active in this Covid-19 epidemic as compared to other countries. But the workers who are driving the country’s economy are suffering in various ways in the working sectors. Many times they are being subjected to various forms of physical and mental abuse including non-receipt of their due wages, the uncertainty of their social and life security at work, lack of nutritious food, non-coverage of health insurance. We specially UNI Bangladesh Liaison Council Youth Committee is working here to stop any unethical practices and protect the dignity of workers and establish their rights under the direct supervision of the UNI Bangladesh Liaison Council.
Lastly, if the youth generation creates job opportunities for the workers, working for a safe environment, ensures their fair wages, provides them nutritious food, and stands up against other corruptions and irregularities, which will be another new chapter for the country. Today, it’s really warming to us and also our society that a part of the youth is getting addicted to various harmful websites, including various games through digital media. Our youth is the main asset of our country. They are our future. So, the government needs to pay more attention to their development and increase their efficiency.
The writer is President, UNI Bangladesh Liaison Council & Assistant Director, Bangladesh Bank. Email: topon08@gmail.com
