Leaders from Bangladesh pledge to work for sustainable change at Commonwealth Youth Summit 2017

Supported by the government of Malaysia and the Commonwealth Secretariat, the three-day summit was held at the University of Nottingham and Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in Malaysia.

The first Commonwealth Youth Summit 2017 concluded on 5th of November wherein young leaders from 52 commonwealth countries took a pledge to actively partner in promoting peace, social cohesion and building global equity and fulfill the commitment of the “sustainable development goals” adopted by the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Under the theme “An Intergenerational Convergence,” the four key topics that topped the agenda were Climate Policy and Finance; Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship; Peace-building and Global Inequality; and Social Cohesion.


Pavel Sarwar talking about their journey to the Commonwealth Youth Summit 2017.

A delegation of 25 representatives from Bangladesh took part in the summit. His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Wales inaugurated the summit on November 3 at University of Nottingham, Malaysia wherein he said that if young people show their determination they could fully harness their intelligence to build societies that are “restorative” and “regenerative”.

“We have the commonly agreed framework of joint action which if implemented would generate $12 trillion and 600 million additional jobs. Transformative change is possible”, he said, while lauding young leaders for taking up entrepreneurial ventures across the Commonwealth countries.

The participant from Bangladesh Pavel Sarwar was fortunate to get his speech at Commonwealth Youth Summit. He said about Government Initiative for Making Digital Bangladesh, Vision 2021 and Rohingya issue. Tauseef Rasheq Ahad from Bangladesh was one of the organisers of the Commonwealth Youth Summit 2017, leading The Speaker Management Team.

Prince Charles stressed on the need for actions that revolves around sustainable economy and underscored the importance of young people, who forms the majority in the global population index. “We must do all that we can to ensure that our young people of the Commonwealth are supported to enable them to be successful in working with us to deal, with the necessary energy and imagination, with these complex and enormous challenges,” he said.

The participants were also actively involved in designing proposals and projects to be taken up at a common platform for social transformation, advocacy and society change in their respective countries.

From Bangladesh Pavel Sarwar, Sumaiya Zafrin Chowdhury, Rezwanur Rahman Rahat, MJ Rahman, Rafee Ahmed, Tanin Zaid, Rhidi, Bithi Roy, Dr. Shafiul Islam, Nafiz Al Razi, Saida Haque, Kabir, Nandita Adhikary also joined this summit.

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