Sajeeb Wazed, ICT Advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chairman of the Research and Information Center (CRI), presented the Joy Bangla Youth Awards among the top ten winners on Saturday.
The Joy Bangla Youth Award is the highest recognition for young Bangladeshi changemakers Young Bangla, the country’s largest youth network, this year announced awards to ten outstanding organizations in five categories following a process of rigorous selection for more than 500 applications.
“This year, ‘Robolife Technology’ and ‘Bindu’ won awards in the Climate and Innovation category; ‘Ucchash’ and ‘Youth Planet’ in the Community Welfare category; ‘Bigyanpriyo’ and ‘Milon Smrity Pathagar’ in the in the Culture and Communication category; “BK School of Research” and “Boson Biggan Songho” in the Skills and Employment category, “Mojar School” and “Switch Bangladesh Foundation” in the Social Inclusion category.
The winners of the Joy Bangla Youth Awards 2022 are:
Joy Barua Lablu (Organization: Robolife Technology): Robolife Technology was founded in 2018 in Dhaka to provide an affordable solution for people with special needs. They ensure the artificial hand in the rehabilitation of a person whose arm is lost or amputated. They served more than 20 people, helped them get back to a good start in their lives. They are producing a bionic hand that costs as little as 30,000 BDT right now and are currently trying to come up with better solutions. They exported some bionic prosthetic hands to Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
CourtesyJannatul Mouwa (BINDU Women’s Development Organization): BINDU Nari Unnayan Sangathan is a youth-led feminist organization. Established in 2018, BINDU works in the area of climate justice and women’s empowerment. They work to protect the rights of people affected by natural disasters in coastal areas, especially women. They created 18 women leaders at union level for the disaster management committee. They managed to sensitize the local government to repair a 300 meter embankment destroyed by Cyclone Amphane. They also work to prevent violence against women, dowry, sexual harassment and protect children’s rights in collaboration with local government and other youth-led organizations.
CourtesyBezon Kumar (Organization: BK School of Research): BK School of Research (BKSR) is a research organization that works in the field of business, economics, social sciences and humanities. Currently, they work with 55 academics, 100 research assistants and around 300 data reviewers from 22 countries. BKSR was established in 2015 and has already published more than 10 articles in international peer-reviewed journals. They are currently conducting more than 10 research projects. They organized 5 seminars and trainings to sensitize young people on education, environment, technology, etc.
CourtesyMuhammad Majadur Rahman (Organization: Boson Biggan Sangho): Boson Biggan Sangho was established in 2014 in Tangail to inspire students to learn math and science in Tangail. They lead by example by organizing camps, workshops and science olympiads. Currently, they are planning to hold a science contest to inspire girls to learn science and math. Boson Biggan Sangho is affiliated with Mathematical Olympiad Bangladesh and was awarded the Best Math Club Award in 2019. Members of this organization have won awards at institutional, regional and national levels of Mathematical Olympiad, Junior Science Olympiad, Biology Olympiad, Programming Olympiad and other competitions.
CourtesyABM Mahmodul Hasan (Organization: Youth Planet): Since its inception in 2018, Youth Planet has tried to challenge the status quo by breaking the social stigma against women. They are working on their vision and plan to educate men about women’s health and rights. Youth Planet’s activity has helped increase menstrual hygiene awareness by up to 50% in Nandail Upazilla in Mymensingh. Additionally, they work in ICT and youth leadership training, women entrepreneurship and digital marketing training through the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Youth Planet operates through a strong community network and a pool of dynamic young people.
CourtesyProsenjit Kumar Saha (Ucchash): Since its establishment in 2017, the organization has been promoting volunteerism in the southern belt of Bangladesh. They have 3 working bases in Bhola, Barishal and Dhaka. Currently running 3 sustainable development projects titled “Shwapno Puron Biddaniketon”, “Project Joyi”, “Project Shabolombi” focusing on free education for underprivileged children, skills development training for low income people income and unemployment, adolescent sexual and reproductive health awareness, and Covid-19 response activities. They run a school of 70 students. They aim to empower young people and women while guaranteeing their right to education.
CourtesyArian Arif (Mojar School, an initiative of the Odommo Bangladesh Foundation): The Mojar School was founded in 2013 with the aim of providing free and fun education to street children. It provides free education to 1,000 underprivileged street children under the national curriculum, from kindergarten to grade 7. The Mojar School has also been providing non-formal education to another 1,000 disadvantaged street children for almost 10 years. It runs 10 schools all over Dhaka. Currently, they are planning to open a new section for technical education.
CourtesyMd Asaduzzaman (Milon smrity pathagar): Milon Smrity Pathagar has established a total of 14 libraries at Shorishabari Upazila, Jamalpur. Among these libraries, there is a children’s library, 4 road libraries and 3 station libraries since 2018. They aim to encourage the local youth community to read books. Milon Smrity Pathagar has readers of all ages including elementary, high school and college students. Increased readership helps create a knowledge-based community.
CourtesyMd Muinul Ahsan Faysal (Switch Bangladesh Foundation): The Switch Bangladesh Foundation has been working to secure basic rights such as education, health, clothing and housing for underprivileged children since 2011. It runs a free school for underprivileged students with 13 full-time teachers. To date, they have taught approximately 2,000 children. They provide wheelchairs to people with special needs and the elderly during ‘Amar Ekhushy Boi Mela’, a month-long book fair held annually in Dhaka. They also provide vocational and technical training to poor women and young people.
CourtesyMuhammad Shawon Mahmud (Organization: BigyanPriyo) BigyanPriyo is a social media platform which started its journey in 2018. They spread scientific facts related to daily life to prevent superstition. They create accurate and engaging content using infographics and audio-visual content on scientific breakthroughs, scientific news, blogs and opportunities. BigyanPriyo is developing a digital science dictionary in Bengali to facilitate science learning in Bengali. They organize a number of school activities and publish an online magazine called “Nebula” to promote Bangladeshi science and scientists to students.
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