BNYCFP ended with a renewed commitment to act for the youth
The sixth session of the Bangladesh National Youth Conference on Family Planning (BNYCFP) ended on ecently in Dhaka in hybrid format with two days of sessions.
The conference host SERAC-Bangladesh was joined by its partners including Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, USAID, Bangladesh Youth Health Action Network (BYHAN), Coalition of Youth Organisations in Bangladesh (CYOB), Jhpiego, Population Action International (PAI), Marie Stopes Bangladesh, Population Reference Bureau (PRB), Pathfinder International and UNFPA Bangladesh in organizing this largest youth gathering in the country on reproductive health and family planning.
More than five hundred youths joined the event with the theme "Commit and Act For Youth", where policymakers, high-level government officials, international and national experts on health and family planning spoke and shared experiences.
The conference opening plenary was chaired by Dr Mohammed Sharif, Director (MCH-Services); Line Director (MC-RAH), MCH-Services Unit of Directorate General of Family Planning, whereas attended by the former Director-General of Family Planning Quazi AKM Mohiul Islam, UNFPA-Bangladesh, Chief of Health Dr Vibhavendra Raghuyamshi, Senior Country Director of Pathfinder International Bangladesh, Ms Caroline Crosbie, Senior Program Officer of Advance Family Planning and youth speaker, Mr Mervyn Christian, MPH and young city champion, UN-Habitat-Botnar, Md Nazmul Hasan.
On the first day, 500 young people actively joined in multiple sessions conducted by Pathfinder International, Population Reference Bureau, Population Action International, IYAFP and other potential partners.
On the second and final day, the conference secretary-general and SERAC-Bangladesh's Executive Director SM Shaikat moderated the closing session chaired by Director General of Family Planning Shahan Ara Banu, NDC, and the Minister of Health and Family Welfare Zahid Maleque, MP joined as the chief guest. Speakers and special guests included UNFPA Country Representative Dr Asa Torkelsson, Health Advisor of the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) Dr Shehlina Ahmed, and a youth representative Khadija Kalam.
SM Shaikat, Executive Director of SERAC-Bangladesh in his speech highlighted, the standard and scopes of the adolescent-friendly health services need expansion with more allocation of budget and increasing numbers of service providers, which is an area government and non-government actors have roles to play.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque said that, adolescents are the futures of the country. The government is trying its best to ensure health services at all levels in the country. The service facilities are equipped with information and services on family planning, sexual-reproductive health. He emphasised that the vision of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was to secure primary healthcare for everyone and freedom from hunger and poverty. This vision needs to focus more on the health and well-being of the young population.
DGFP chief Shahan Ara Banu confirmed her departments' commitments for youth and adolescents family planning services and information from national and grassroots levels. She reiterated that the National Adolescent Health Strategy 2017-2030 has been in operation to support the 1,103 centres for adolescents service. It is also a priority to extend the service hours of these centres until 5 pm, and the implementation is in progress.
The closing session was preceded by multiple plenary sessions by Jhpiego, UNFPA Bangladesh, Marie Stopes Bangladesh, CYOB, and Population Reference Bureau. Experts, policy makers, and youth representatives shared their ideas and exchanged ideas to improve the sector's current situation.
The organising host of this conference, SERAC-Bangladesh, declared the 7th season in 2022 during their closing remarks.
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