Today’s youth should be very concerned about climate change because it will heavily impact their future, said Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, founder and chairman of the world’s largest non-governmental organisation BRAC.
“Unless we change human behaviour in terms of consumption of resources, the future will not be sustainable. I would like to see more youth involvement with issues relating to climate change. Sustainable development is the key,” he added.
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed made the remarks while speaking at the Frugal Innovation Forum at BRAC CDM in Savar, on Monday (Mar 4). BRAC organised the forum with the theme: “Scaling opportunities for youth.”
“The youth should understand the distinctions between government and policy and play a more engaging role in policymaking,” said Radwan Mujib Siddiq, trustee of Centre for Research and Information (CRI), while speaking at a session on how to increase youth engagement in different spheres of the society.
During a debate session, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, honorary fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said: “If you look at the issues we see and the initiatives we take, there are noble initiatives. But, at the end of the day, governance is the major issue beyond which, you will not be able to solve the problems. You will have to really come out and work.”
Frugal Innovation Forum is a platform for leaders from the Global South to connect and explore solutions to the world’s toughest challenges that features development practitioners and funders, young change-makers and innovators to collaborate for impact at scale.
Asif Saleh, senior director of BRAC and one of the key organisers of the forum, said: “We are talking about the future of jobs as youth problems are not limited to poverty anymore, it’s about security as well. This forum is about real models of what is actually happening and which model is applicable.”
The conference kick-started with a day-long field visit to give the participants an exclusive experience of frugal innovations in Bangladesh, followed by two days of intense debates and plenaries on disruptive models and solutions. The discussions, workshops and plenaries focused on: 21st century skills; impact of technology on youth; and youth on the move.
- Press release
