Youth can turn country into middle-income one

Community and social awareness building works done by the youth will turn the country into a middle-income state before the targeted year of 2021, said foreign minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali yesterday.
After visiting 20 stalls of youth-run community projects on the premises of the Bangla Academy on the occasion of the Active Citizen Achievers' Summit 2014, the minister said, "We look forward to creating a good number of young leaders through these initiatives."
The minister was praising the projects undertaken by Active Citizens, a group of young people between the age of 18 and 35. The youth from different parts of the country took training from the British Council on different skills including leadership, communication, volunteering, fund raising and implemented social projects in their communities based on local priorities.
Replying to the queries of journalists about the recent debate on the first president of Bangladesh, he said this was an attempt to distort history.
Speaking as the chief guest in the inaugural session, Abul Hassan said many attempts had also been made earlier to misguide the young generation by distorting history.
British High Commissioner Robert W Gibson, who was present as special guest, termed the more than 55 million young people "the driving force of the country".
Referring to British Council's Active Citizens programme, which runs in 38 countries of the world and focuses on developing a network of young people to promote international and intercultural trust and understanding, Gibson said, "Volunteers can make a global impact."
More than 475 trainings have been delivered under this programme to more than 15,500 young people in 450 communities around the country since 2009 in partnership with nine local NGOs.
A large percentage of these young people were engaged in social action projects that address issues such as sanitation, dowry, early marriage, education for underprivileged children, thalassemia, eve-teasing, and the like.
Two sessions -- "Global Citizenship: Thinking beyond Border" and "Future Leaders: Creating Better World" -- were also held in the summit attended by 500 active citizens.  
The programme ended with awarding the best three social action projects -- "Youth to Conserve Environment", "Radio Show Youth Voice", and "English Skills Development Club" -- out of 750 currently operating across the country.