Address unemployment issues of youths: speakers
Expressing concerns over the fallout of Covid-19 pandemic on society, speakers at a webinar yesterday called on the government to take necessary steps to address the unemployment problems of youth.
They also called for adopting a holistic approach so that the country could attain the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The remarks came from the webinar titled "Youth Perspective on Covid-19 Crisis in Bangladesh: Response through National Budget and Planning", jointly organised by South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) and ActionAid Bangladesh.
SANEM's Research Director and Professor of Dhaka University Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha said anti-social activities might increase due to the frustration caused by the pandemic.
She underscored the need for national preparation and economic diversification to address unemployment problems.
Zubayer Hossen, a research economist at SANEM, said the earning of freelancers in the country has dropped due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Nazmul Ahsan, manager of "Young People" at ActionAid Bangladesh suggested preparing comprehensive data on the youth to identify their specific requirements and areas of assistance.
"Such data can be helpful in providing economic assistance, guidelines, and social safety packages," he said.
Raihan presented the research by SANEM on the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the youth of Bangladesh. The research identified six transmission mechanisms through which the youth of the country are being affected: health, education, employment, income, poverty, and domestic violence.
Raihan recommended providing health coverage and engaging the most vulnerable youth groups in the healthcare packages to meet their basic needs, taking steps to widen access to distance learning tools free of cost for students, extending social safety net to include unemployed youths and motivating and engaging youth in skill development programmes.
He also suggested providing training to police on how to respond and protect victims from social stigma related to Covid-19.
Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, said the pandemic is a call to action for social justice rather than returning to the pre-pandemic situation where socio-economic exploitation were prevalent.
The society must strive for a better socio-economic reality, she added.
Comments