National Federation of Youth Organisations in Bangladesh (NFYOB) is the national
coordinating council of youth organizations in the country. Central committee of
the federation is elected and constituted by the representatives of different
member organizations. NFYOB has been very actively involved in all sorts of
youth development action programmes in the country.
NFYOB
is registered under the Ministry of Social Welfare and affiliated with the
Ministry of Youth and Sports, Govt. of Bangladesh. It is also associated with
the Department of Public Information (UNDPI) and has Consultative Status with
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.
In
2000 NFYOB become the national lead agency to organize the Global Youth Service
Day (GYSD) and it is observing the GYSD successfully in each year. NFYOB is also
coordinating the Youth Employment Summit (a decade campaign) country network for
Bangladesh.
Since
its formation in 1985 NFYOB has maintaining excellent liaison with the
Government. It has in its credit of leading and pioneering a number of social
movement including Youth Employment, Poverty Eradication, Mass Education,
Environment Protection, Water and Sanitation, Child Rights, Human Rights,
Indigenous Population, Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment, Motivation and
rehabilitation programmes, Promotion and construction of Sustainable Culture of
Peace and non violence.
PURPOSE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ORGANIZATION
To
plan, direct and coordinate the youth development activities of the country.
Specific
objectives are as follows:
1.To organize the huge youth force of the country and to their creative and
organizing power in safeguarding the national independence, sovereignty and
unity.
2.To employ the youth force in all fields of national development
activities.
3.To implement the spirits of the liberation movement through upholding
tradition and composing correct history.
4.To create a movement in regard to social economic and family right,
responsibilities and opportunities through motivating the youth community to
discharge their responsibility towards individual, society and the nation.
5.To create awareness amongst the people in particular about the bad
effects of drug addiction and operate movement to avoid drugs.
6.To establish coordination with national and international programmers on
drugs.
7.To collect and analyze various information on development activities and
creative effort of the youth community and publicize those to the nation through
various mass media like radio, television, newspapers and journals.
8.To establish “Youth Information Cell” in every district of the country
and collect all sorts of information of youth activities on regular basis in
order to undertake research work on youth community.
9.To publish Newsletters, Magazines, Books, Booklets, Posters, etc on
youths and help other youth organizations such as Publications.
10.To prepare lists of the unemployed and underemployed youth and motivate
sister and associated Youth Organizations in creating alternative employment
opportunities with a view to solve unemployed problem of the youth community in
the country.
11.To develop the youth community though various technical and professional
training programmes.
12.To help expand the cooperative committees, clubs, centers, libraries,
health centers, culture committees, etc. run by the youth community.
13.To organise conferences, seminars, workshops and training programmes
relating youth activities at national and international levels.
14.To establish House, Library, Hotel, Training Institute, Youth Village,
Recreation Center for the members of the youth organisations.
15.To construct low cost residential flat building for the members of the
youth organisations.
16.To ensure representation and participation of the youth in development
activities undertaken by the government at Thana and District levels.
17.To involves the youth in the decision making process by ensuring their
representation in the National Assembly, District Councils, Thana Parishads,
Planning Commission, National Population Council, national Supreme Social
Service Council, Education Advisory Council, Censor Board, Municipal Committees,
Corporations and Local Administrations.
18.To motivate the youth community for voluntary participation and social
activities like tree plantation, health programmes, environmental development,
family planning, agriculture development, removal of illiteracy, mass education
programmes.
19.To promote understanding among the youth communities of different
countries through exchange of youth delegates.
20.To cooperate with all the organs the United Nations for International
peace and development.
21.To assist the government in implementing policies and programmes for the
development of the youth community.
22.To actively participate in the selection of youth delegates from the
country for sending to other countries and international forums at government
and non-government level.
23.To promote youth exchange programmes both within the country and outside
the country.
DESCRIPTION OF MEMBERSHIP
Only Youth organizations
and organizations who have youth wings with an action plan to work on youth
issues can be a member of the federation.
All members of the National
Executive Committee are nominated from the member organizations. There is no
member from the government officials. The National Executive Committee is an
elected body.
Inter
Divisional Exchanges: NFYOB organizes
inter divisional exchanges between the youth of different districts. Visiting
youth get exposure and awareness bodies fostering understanding and national
unity. The visiting youth tour schools and colleges, take good points and
identify weaknesses to improve the educational systems of their areas.
International Youth
Program Being internationally active NFYOB receives
invitations from throughout the world for attending youth conferences, Seminars,
Training Sessions and workshops, etc. These programs not only provide changes to
the youth to learn but also to give all that they learned abroad to the local
youth upon their return. This also an effective way to provide informal
education and gives international awareness and knowledge and in a way it also
helps in bench making.
Women’s Education
We
have a big problem of women’s illiteracy. Realization the fact that a woman
educates and trains the future generation, NFYOB initiated a program through its
female members to educate the women. Books were distributed among them to
achieve the result of awareness to be increased in them regarding the importance
of female education and informal sort of education was given to them.
Seminars and Workshop
NFYOB organized many
seminars and workshops particularly for youth. These events educate and inform
the participants on various aspects. Through these events we broaden their
horizons of thinking and increase awareness, at the same time inducing moral
values in them. We stress upon the youth to educate themselves because the
nation’s future relies upon them.
Free and compulsory
education be provided to all children up to class 10, with financial help and
assistance from the United Nations, as our economical condition does not permit
to carry out the and compulsory education from its own financial resources.
Youth
Employment for Social Development
It is
obvious that employment (gainful employment under conditions that are not
hazardous to the health of the worker) is a problem of all age groups and not
just the youth of the world. However, it is important that special emphasis be
given to the provision of employment to youth so that they can be made to feel
that they are, in fact, contributing to society as a whole.
Projects
·Working under
the World Program of Action for Youth, it is proposed that the following
projects be taken up to soften and eventually minimize the problem of
unemployment and underemployment among the youth of the third world and the
South Asian countries in particular. How ever it is proposed to:
·Set up a
program of internship with the cooperation of multinationals and conglomerates
operating in that particular country. This will provide the youth with work
experience, a taste of the work environment and will also contribute to their
self esteem.
·Organize
workshops and seminars conducted voluntarily by professionals from repaid
evolving fields that are at the cutting edge of technology. This will be useful
in the sense that it will help these professionals identify individuals that
have the potential and the drive to succeed in these fields and who can be
groomed further.
·Encourage
entrepreneurs by awarding grants to the most feasible and most innovative
projects in a regular nationwide contest. This contest is to be judged by a
panel of leaders from the corporate sector who would also interviews. This will
provide youth with the opportunity to present their ideas to individuals who
have the ability to make a difference. Of course this will be an opportunity for
the youth to practice and improve their interviews skills and their
self-confidence, conviction and self-belief. In return the corporate sector will
get a source of new ideas and projects that have been hitherto, for all
practical purposes, untapped.
Proposal
To
undertake the above mentioned projects, it is suggested that regulating and
supporting bodies or YOUTH EMPLOYMENT CENTRE’S be set up in every country that
is a partner in The World Program of Action for Youth to The Year 2000 and
Beyond. This center’s would comprise of purely volunteer workers who would,
however, be given token remuneration that would increase their sense of
responsibility towards the projects under their care.
Considerations
1. A Youth Employment Centre would be a useful database of available job
opportunities for the youth.
2. It would be a link between the corporate sector and the educational
institutions and at the same time develop their own contacts.
3. The youth employment Center would provide an alternate source of income
that could be invested in projects approved by the Regional Youth Body and would
thus avoid being a financial burden on the Youth Body and at the same time
increase its potential for growth.
Proposals for Action
·Set up
National Youth Bank
·Encourage
self-employment
·Employment
opportunities for special groups
·Voluntary
community service involving Youth
·Unemployment
creates a lot of problems for the Youth. NFYOB is working to solve all the
youth problems. Living within constraints we have done whatever we could to help
the youth in this regard.
Youth and Drug Abuse
The
youth are frustrated because of a lack of entertainment, a lack of employment
opportunities, an obsolete educational system and an uncertain political
climate. Observations reveals that this frustration is a gateway to violence,
alcohol abuse, Juvenile Delinquency and deadliest of all drugs. This national
problem is of course also an international problem and a problem that is like
Mythical Hydra, the serpent with many heads.
World organizations have
been debating far too long over the pros and cons of various projects that would
be effective against drug abuse and have been blaming the Far East and the
Golden Triangle for the aggravation of the drug problem. However, they fail to
consider the Laws of Supply and Demand and fail to recognize that the demand for
drugs in the west has also taken a heavy tool of the eastern youth who belong to
countries that serve as conduits and sources for the drugs that are bound for
the Western States.
CURRENT ACTIVITIES
Regular
Leadership Training Programme:
In every three months NFYOB organizes this training for the members of the
executive committee of the member organisations.
Self-employment
Training: NFYOB
is also running a training and self-employment project for the rural
unemployed youth. ‘ Training and Self-employment for Rural Youth’ (2nd
Phase) project aimed to provide mobile training on livestock and poultry farming
for the poor youths in the rural villages. Project period is two years.
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groups of rural poor youth have been selected from 12 different villages for the
training and at the end of the project some 480 (280 male and 200 female) poor
youth will be trained. Relevant experienced resource persons are running the
training. After completion of the training the trained youth will get loans
through revolving fund to start their own small projects.
From the very beginning and
its formation, NFYOB is working with the Department of Youth Development,
Ministry of Youth & Sports and other related departments of the government to
update the National Youth Policy basis on the present needs. Mr. Dulal Biswas,
Secretary General of NFYOB are working to update the National Youth Policy as
the member of the National Youth Policy Drafting Committee under the Ministry of
Youth & Sports.
Moreover, NFYOB is working
all over the country for the development of young people and to empower the
young people in all spheres of life. And also working in close connection with
the local governmental bodies, civil society organizations and United Nations
agencies.
NFYOB also arranging
cultural progammes like street drama, cultural nights, Youth fair etc. to raise
fund. We also provide training to the social leaders, youth organizers, teachers
and related persons to develop the quality of life, alleviation of poverty
equality-equity-empowerment of women and reproductive health and on population
and development.
