Recently, 15 youth-led organisations were recognised for their outstanding contributions to five different fields at the Joy Bangla Youth Award (JBYA) 2021 held on 20 December 2021 at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Youth Development in Savar.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, virtually addressed the ceremony in a pre-recorded message.

The award categories were: Climate and innovation; social inclusion; culture and communication; community wellness; and skill and employment.

In the climate and innovation category, the three who received the awards are Steps Ahead, The Tech Academy and EcoVation Bangladesh. Reflective Teens, Gen Lab and Bangladesh Dushprappo Chobi Somogro were recognised in the culture and communication category.

The Bangladesh Tea Community Student Youth Council and Medhabi Kallyan Sangstha won under the community wellness category. Moner School, TransEnd and Third Eye were awarded in the social inclusion category.

Lastly, four youth organisations were conferred in the skill and employment category: Dhrubotara Youth Development Foundation (DYDB), Amal Foundation, Diner Alo Hijra Unnayon Mohila Songstha and Asmani Jubo Nari Foundation.

Find out more about the organisations below.

Dhrubotara Youth Development Foundation (DYDF)

Amiya Prapan Chakraborty (Arka)

Category: Skill and employment

Since its establishment in 2000, DYDF has been working on empowering the youths and building a better Bangladesh through various social activities. With its pool of 48,000 volunteers, the organisation has expanded its activities across 44 districts and reached about half a million people.

DYDF works for marginal people and minority rights centering rural and urban youths, tea labour, ethnic and disadvantaged community groups. This entity has also formulated youth parliaments in every district, enabling young minds to pitch ideas on policy making. Besides, DYDF operated freelancing projects for char community students.

The Tech Academy

Mohammed Shams Jabber

Category: Climate and innovation

The Tech Academy was founded in 2013 to gamify Bangladesh's education system. The organisation nurtures children aged between 8 to 16 teaching them technological skills such as animation, coding, game development and robotics, enabling them to adapt to Industry 4.0.

Benefitting more than 1,000 students, The Tech Academy is the first-ever Bangladeshi school to launch international operations in Jakarta and San Francisco. This tech school has represented Bangladesh on many global platforms.

Asmani Jubo Nari Foundation

Shirin Akther Asa

Category: Skill and employment

This organisation has been working with adolescent girls and young women since 2016. The founder herself is a child-marriage survivor. Ever since, she has been working to stop child marriages and has successfully stopped 294 child-marriages.

The Asmani Jubo Nari Foundation is not only limited to raising awareness. It aids women in enhancing their capacity making them established entrepreneurs through training, workshop and, engagement, enabling them to break free from discrimination, deprivation, inequality, and gender-based violence.

The entity has trained about 2,595 women on tailoring. They have also established a sanitary napkin producing factory in their community, which is helping 36 girls and young women to make a living. The organisation supplies sanitary napkins to five schools.

During the pandemic, Asmani Jubo Nari Foundation engaged more than 100 women and girls to meet their financial needs and distributed free masks, sanitisers, and sanitary napkins to more than 5,000 underprivileged girls and women in the community.

AMAL Foundation

Esrat Karim

Category: Skill and employment

Since its inception in 2014, AMAL Foundation has been working in Bangladesh's remote char areas ensuring better livelihood, healthcare, and quality education for the vulnerable communities. The organisation is currently working with more than 52,000 beneficiaries in different villages across the country.

AMAL Foundation is generating revenue and social recognition through Azowa - its social business. Azowa generates $52,000 of revenue each year while ensuring women's social recognition and voice.

Besides, AMAL Foundation operates three pre-schools for marginalised children. The founder, Esrat Karim, was recognised by the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia.

Third EYE

Masrur Ishraq

Category: Social inclusion

Third-EYE is a voluntary organisation that works with visually impaired students. The organisation provides university-level audiobooks or class records, arranges computer training, debate sessions, pronunciation training and other vocational and personal skill development projects for visually impaired students. 

This entity also helps visually impared students find stenographers during exams. Till now, Third EYE has helped more than 400 visually impaired people. 

EcoVation Bangladesh

Sanjidul Alam Seban Shaan

Category: Climate and Innovation 

EcoVation Bangladesh is a research and innovation-based social enterprise. Since its establishment in 2015, the organisation has impacted 150,000 lives with its innovation-focused volunteering approach. This entity has helped about 90,000 people, including Rohingya refugees, with their volunteer-made water bottle lamp, bamboo bottle solar lamp, and streetlights. 

EcoViation has trained 3,000 underprivileged people to become solar engineers. This social enterprise installed more than 20 solar-powered water purification systems free-of-cost ensuring clean water for more than 50,000 people, and trained hundreds of women to make reusable sanitary pads. The organisation's renewable energy and green skill projects helped reduce 3,250 metric tonnes of carbon emissions in Bangladesh and saved more than Tk3 crore in energy costs of its beneficiaries. 

Bangladesher Dushprappo Chobi Somogro

Giridhar Dey

Category: Culture and communication

It is a non-profit voluntary organisation that aims at society's socio-cultural development. Since its establishment in 2016, Bangladesher Dushprappo Chobi Somogro has been working on creating a digital archive of national history and culture and preventing the distortion of historical information. 

This platform also protests against communal violence and anti-independence forces. Bangladesher Dushprappo Chobi Somogro has a collection of about 70,000 rare photos and is planning to initiate a 'Digital Museum' in the near future. 

Steps Ahead

Shahana Afrin Dina

Category: Climate and innovation

Steps Ahead was established in 2018 with the aim to work with people in Bangladesh's coastal zone. The organisation raises awareness on gynaecological health complexities and hygiene kits distribution, training, and development programs such as handicraft making, sewing, and graphics designing.

The organisation also operates empowerment programs; one of its projects - 'Home-Factory', enables women to engage in income-generating activities from their homes by making environment-friendly products. Besides, Steps Ahead is leading several social-scientific innovation projects and conducting studies on salinity, migration, and women and children's vulnerability. 

Moner School

Fairooz Faizah Beether

Category: Social inclusion 

Moner School started off in 2018 as the first-ever youth-led mental health and wellbeing platform. The platform provides counselling sessions to the mass people, educates and equips them with mental health tool-kit- emotional wellbeing literacy through training and workshops. 

This organisation organised the country's biggest workshop on mental health toolkit at Khulna University with 130 young minds. Moner School has reached 11,000 youth who can contribute towards creating a non-judgemental community to share thoughts and problems. This platform has representatives in more than 35 educational institutions across Bangladesh.

TransEnd

Lamea Tanjin Tanha

Category: Social Inclusion 

This youth-led non-profit organisation began its journey in 2018 with the primary aim of bridging the gap between transgender, hijra, gender-diverse and the mainstream community through education, training, healthcare, employment, and entrepreneurship. TransEnd has arranged various online and offline sensitisation programmes, skill-development workshops, and awareness-building campaigns, which have benefited more than 345,000 general people.

Reflective Teens

Yusuf Ibne Yakub Munna

Category: Culture and communication

Reflective Teens aims to bring out and incubate teenagers' creativity to the fullest extent. It runs unique programmes to engage teenage groups in creative ventures. Over the last eight years, Reflective Teens has influenced over 100,000 creative teenagers and affiliated itself with many organisations around the world. 

GenLab

Ratul Dev

Category: Culture and communication 

GenLab thrives to create a society of peace and communal harmony through advocacy initiatives; promotes inclusive and peaceful community living through means of art and digital presence. Since 2015, this platform has reached more than 300,000 with its programs. GenLab also operates Peace Caravan - an urban art and campaign-based programme with 25 vehicles.

Diner Alo Hijra Unnayan Mohila Sangstha (DAHUMS)

Abu Hasan (Joyta Poly)

Category: Skill and employment

This organisation is led by Rajshahi division's transgender community. Since 2002, it has been working with the aim to create an inclusive society with non-discriminatory and accepting attitude in Banglades's context. 

DAHUMS has been providing training to transgender people aiding them in becoming self-independent and make a living. The platform also arranges jobs for them. Alongside the transgender community, DAHUMS also assists marginalised people (women, disabled, and aged) to get enlisted in the social safety net programmes. They have around 900 direct beneficiaries.

Bangladesh Tea Community Student Youth Council (BTCSYC)

Rigan Kumar Kanu

Category: Community wellness 

Since its establishment in 2014, this organisation has been working in Habiganj's tea state region. Due to lack of education and financial viability, people of this community are backwarded and many suffer from alcohol addiction. 

BTCSYC started its battle against drug addiction by raising awareness through presentations, campaigns, leaflets, and posters. The platform organises quiz competitions and encourages students to carry forward their studies. The organisation also provides guidance related to university admission tests, accommodation and food support to the candidates, helping young minds in raising funds for university admission, free computer trainings to help the youths in pursuing their dream of higher studies and employment.

Medhabi Kallyan Sangstha (MKS)

Md. Nurul Alam

Category: Community wellness 

This organisation was established in 2012 to aid under-privileged students who face hurdles in continuing studies due to financial restraints. This organisation provides food, clothing, and scholarships to the underprivileged students located in Chillmari and Kurigram region. Besides, MKS provides extra lessons and guidance to early grade students.  

So far, 14 students have got the opportunity to study in public universities including Dhaka University, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Begum Rokeya University, University of Barisal, Haji Danesh University, Khulna Agricultural

University. Five students have had the opportunity to study in government nursing institutes through incentive scholarships. Besides, MKS has also facilitated two girls to get enrolled in Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan. This organisation has helped close to 376 students to continue their studies in different phases.