BULLETIN BOARD

Bangladesh Represented at South Asian Youth Conference-2013

MD. MOSTAFIJUR RAHMAN

South Asian Youth Conference-2013 was a platform where youths from South Asian region participated to foster team spirit beyond boundaries and created “One South Asia”. Five young delegates from Bangladesh -- Md. Mostafijur Rahman, Nuruddin Ahmed Bappi, Shibnath Sarkar, Nahin Ahmed Jisun and Farzeen Ferdous Alam -- participated in the event that took place in Bhaktapur, Nepal from December 15 to 20, 2013. Around 100 youth leaders from Bangladesh, Afghanistan,  Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka took part in the conference that comprised of action projects, skill building workshops, speaker sessions, debates, screening of the documentaries, dialogue and cultural programme.
The conference was based on three different themes -- livelihood development, meaningful participation and sustainability. The focus of SAYC-2013 was on keeping up the legacy of the previous SAYCs, held in Bangalore and Islamabad in 2011 and 2012 respectively. The goal of this conference was to foster a regional partnership for sustainable development, and create a platform where youths from this region can share their views on post 2015 global development frameworks.
This SAYC came up with a number of resolutions, including multiple area-specific action plans intended to serve as a guiding agenda for the participating organisations and individuals. It gave the participants a chance to attend international training sessions and workshops. The experience of attending this conference will help the participants apply these skills in their organisations and communities.
The SAYC-2013 was an encouraging platform marked by learning, sharing, networking and exploring brilliant ideas along with appropriate action plans so that the participants can continue to raise voices, innovate ideas, achieve regional goals and make “One South Asia” with a view to creating a better world together. In addition, the good news is that Bangladesh was nominated as the host of South Asian Youth Conference-2014.

Md. Mostafijur Rahman was a participant at South Asian Youth Conference-2013.

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Conference on Globalization and Trade at BRAC University

Economics and Social Sciences (ESS) Department of BRAC University organised a daylong conference on “Globalization and Trade: Prospects and Challenges for South Asia” on December 20, 2013. The conference brought together some active researchers and policymakers to brainstorm trade policy related issues and challenges -- from globalization to regional economies. Shamim Shakur from Massey University in New Zealand and Visiting Professor of Economics at ESS, and Farzana Munshi, Associate Professor at ESS, led the proceedings of the day as conference conveners.
Professor Syed M. Hashemi, Head of ESS Department. welcomed delegates in the morning. A total of 14 research papers were presented in four thematic sessions. The sessions were chaired, respectively by Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya of CPD, Dr Quazi Shahabuddin of BIDS, Dr. Mustafa K. Mujeri of BIDS, and Professor Fahad Khalil  from University of Washington, USA.
The conference ended with a panel discussion on the conference theme, chaired by Dr. Mustafa K. Mujeri, Director General of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies. Other members of the distinguished panel included Professor Ainun Nishat, Vice Chancellor of BRAC University; Dr. Mozibur Rahman, Chief Executive Officer of Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute; and Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director of Centre for Policy Dialogue.