Rationale

In Bangladesh, climate change effect is seen and increasing day by day. Some coastal and southern areas are already affected by climate change disasters. For example, in the Coastal part of Bangladesh, lots of land water is now salty, drinking water crisis, low land productivity, health problem (fungal infection), forest-dependent income is decreasing. Diversity changes in local people’s livelihood. Besides, there is no working scope raise and not enough assistance from local authorities and other actors. So vulnerability is increasing at an extreme stage. Many economic farm-like-shrimp incubators are in danger, an asset for Bangladesh for foreign money. On the other hand, in the southern part, many plants are destroyed, and the hill is digging for people’s shelter. Besides, dense people create human liquid waste, making vulnerable hazard in the environment. However, climate change is seen in weather and season change in Bangladesh, and the warming tempura ratio by yearly. Moreover, in parallel spaces like agriculture fields, that effect is seen most in low production/ productivity and may occur for too many pesticides used on the land. So, immediately/urgently taken an initiative is necessary to make consciousness in human behavior with social action locally and globally. Then future generations can survive with a suitable planet.

Objective

Generate discussion about youth engagement for climate action in Bangladesh and other Commonwealth countries by organizing a webinar and a series of round table discussions.

Activity Details

Youth Mobilization

An invitation was disseminated through social media and related platforms to inspire the youth volunteers to be a part of the project and share their interest in participating roundtable discussions. JAAGO’s volunteer network actively searched and motivated young people to register for the roundtables who were fit for it. A total of 225 volunteers were selected from 15 districts countrywide.

Social Media Group Formation

JAAGO Foundation created a social media group where selected youth participants from all 15 districts joined. The selected volunteers for roundtables shared photos and stories of their activities so that other youths have opportunity to develop climate awareness among them.

Round Table Discussions

To address the climate issues and draw attention at the district levels, a series of round-table discussions were held in 15 districts of Bangladesh that are heavily impacted by climate change protocols. Volunteer for Bangladesh, the youth development program of JAAGO Foundation, actively implemented the organization of the round-tables. A discussion was held per district, where 15 selected youth volunteers were mobilized in each district from that respective region alongside a local climate resilience expert, who was actively involved during the process. Out of the 15 volunteers, one was selected to moderate the program, while another was selected as a rapporteur based on specific criteria. During the round tables, a volunteer was chosen randomly to address the issues and commence the discussion. The address highlighted the agenda and outcomes of Cop 26, global climate change implications, and detail the district history and current climate change predicament of the volunteer. The moderator drove the discussion through climate crisis issues and feasible opportunities where youth could engage and invest themselves in reducing the negative impact of climate change issues in their respective areas. All the round table discussions were publicly aired through Volunteer For Bangladesh’s social media platforms.

Social Media Campaign

All the activities, outcomes, impacts and success stories of the round table discussions were portrayed publicly through social media. Relevant photos, video or audio records, and promotional posters were regularly published in social platforms in order to reach maximum people from all spheres of life.