Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC) has joined hands with the Netherlands Embassy in Dhaka to help 3,000 youths develop leadership skills.
On Tuesday, BYLC formally inked a pact with the Dutch Embassy for the phase 2 of its ambitious Building Bridges through Leadership Training (BBLT) and Building Bridges through Leadership Junior (BBLTJ) programmes.
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Under the agreement, BYLC will train 3,000 youths from diverse backgrounds, instill in them values of inclusiveness and pluralism, and engage them in active citizenship.
BBLT and BBLTJ participants will design and execute 375 community service projects in local communities and serve 37,500 community people.
They will work to solve critical social issues such as women empowerment, gender equality, climate change, access to education for all, social cohesion and community building, and health and hygiene. Over the next five years, the most promising 60 community service projects will receive scale-up support.
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Graduates of the program will have improved leadership skills, social and communication skills, higher-order thinking skills, emotional intelligence, moral understanding, ideological tolerance, public speaking, civic awareness, and project management skills, according to BYLC.
Dutch Ambassador Anne van Leeuwen said, “It is inspiring to see the huge impact of BYLC’s leadership programmes. The BBLT and BBLTJ programmes are the most important initiatives I have witnessed in the short time that I’ve been in Bangladesh.”
On his part, Ejaj Ahmad, founder and president of BYLC, said, “Through this project, BYLC aspires to train the next generation of courageous, compassionate, and competent leaders who will lead Bangladesh into the future and make meaningful contributions in different sectors.”
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BYLC’s journey in Bangladesh began in summer of 2008 with the pilot Building Bridges through Leadership Training programme, which was funded by the Davis Projects for Peace Prize and MIT Public Service Center.
Over the past 13 years, the organisation has grown from a small living room project to a thriving institute with 6,000-plus alumni, many of whom have distinguished themselves as successful entrepreneurs and capable professionals in public, nonprofit and private sectors.