Professor Muhammad Yunus
9th Social Business Youth Summit in Dhaka Feb 1-2
The 9th Social Business Youth Summit (SBYS) 2025 will be held on February 1-2 at the InterContinental Dhaka.
YY Ventures, an incubation and investment social business that supports early-stage entrepreneurs who are fighting carbon emissions, poverty, and unemployment, is organising the summit, according to a press release on Thursday.
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Chief Adviser and Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus will deliver the keynote speech at the summit.
Curated by YY Ventures and powered by The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bangladesh, SBYS 2025 is co-hosted by Impact Hub Dhaka and supported by key partners, Orange Corners Bangladesh, 3ZERO Club, Yunus Centre, and the Intercontinental Dhaka, it said.
SBYS is a global movement to empower youth as changemakers. Focused on tackling the most pressing challenges of today through meaningful conversations and collective action, SBYS 2025 is the 9th summit to unite entrepreneurs, innovators, and changemakers from across the world to create sustainable impact through the power of social business.
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Under the theme “Change the Country, Change the World,” SBYS 2025 aims to unlock the potential of youth as catalysts for positive transformation.
The summit, which will be held during the Festival of Youth 2025: Creating a New Bangladesh, an initiative by the Chief Adviser’s Office, will convene over 400 participants, including youth leaders, social entrepreneurs, ecosystem builders, and policymakers, the release said.
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The summit would provide a platform for partnerships across sectors to support youth-led initiatives, addressing critical areas like food security, health, education, climate change, gender equality, zero waste, sports and arts for social change, sustainable fashion, and much more, added the release.
For more information about SBYS 2025, visit: https://summit.yy.ventures/
1 month ago
ADP set to shrink significantly in interim govt’s revised budget
With an eye on terminating “unnecessary and politically motivated” development projects undertaken by the discredited Awami League administration, the interim government adopted a ‘go slow’ policy in approving disbursement of funds for projects enlisted in the annual development programme.
This led to the lowest implementation rate of the ADP for at least a decade, over the first five months of the current fiscal, that commenced last July 1.
The implementation rate in the first five months of the current fiscal year was just 12.29%, the lowest for the equivalent period in over a decade.
The ADP implementation in the 2023-24 fiscal was its lowest in four years, at just 81 percent. In the previous 2022-23 fiscal, the ADP-execution rate was recorded at 85.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the lowest ADP execution under the Awami League regime’s 15 years in office was the 80.4 percent recorded in the 2019-20 fiscal - when COVID-19 crippled economic activity in the second half of the financial year. Thereafter, there had been a better performance in the subsequent three fiscals: FY2021, FY2022, and FY2023.
After the fall of the Awami League government on August 5 in the face of a student-led uprising, the interim government led by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on August 8.
According to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), ADP implementation during the July-November period was 17.1% in the last fiscal, 2023-24, and 18.4% in 2022-23. Versus just 12.3% in the current 2024-25 fiscal, of the Tk 278,288.90 crore ADP passed by the AL government in its last budget.
IMED data shows that ADP spending in the July-November period amounted to Tk34,214.55 crore, compared to Tk46,857.38 crore in the equivalent period of the previous fiscal year.
IMED officials cited delays in the review the interim government had initiated into all ongoing and newly proposed projects, along with increasing delays in the release of funds, as factors contributing to the slowdown in ADP implementation. Additionally, many contractors abandoned projects after the interim government assumed power in early August.
Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud, while admitting the lacklustre ADP implementation rate, said the interim government would announce its revised budget, effectively an emergency budget necessitated by the change in government, for the 2024-25 fiscal by February.
Dr Wahiduddin said that after the revised budget and revised ADP, the Planning Ministry will be able to plan better to complete the projects it chooses to keep, ultimately. He also commented that if employment is not increased, the suffering of the people will not be reduced.
Meanwhile, low ADP implementation rate and stuttering private sector investment is moving the country towards an economically stagnant situation.
Read: Revised ADP may witness major climbdown, with elimination of 'politically-motivated' projects
The Planning Adviser, in a recent briefing, vowed to go faster in implementation of the ADP aiming to create employment and give a boost in money circulation in the rural areas.
He apprehended that without this move, which would also encourage the private sector to come forward with their fresh investments, the country might even face an economic recession.
Accordingly the Planning Ministry has canceled several projects initiated during the Awami League government.
The scrapped initiatives include several infrastructure, health, and education projects that were significant components of the Awami League’s development agenda. Among the prominent cancellations are a rural connectivity program to build roads and bridges in remote areas, urban modernization schemes, and energy and transport infrastructure projects.
The Planning Ministry cited inefficiencies, lack of feasibility, and allegations of mismanagement as primary reasons for axing the projects.
A senior ministry official stated, “Many of these projects were approved without thorough evaluation, leading to wasteful expenditure and suboptimal outcomes.”
The Planning Ministry outlined three key reasons for the cancellations:
Budgetary Constraints: Global economic challenges, rising inflation, and increasing debt burdens have tightened the government’s fiscal space. The ministry argued that reallocating resources to more critical sectors, such as food security and climate adaptation, was necessary.
Inefficiencies and Alleged Irregularities: Some projects reportedly suffered from inflated budgets, lack of transparency, and delays in execution. These issues, combined with the slow ADP implementation, created a bottleneck in the overall development process.
Read more: Govt looks to expedite ADP implementation to boost flow of money in economy
Realignment of National Priorities: The government seeks to prioritize initiatives that directly address economic recovery and sustainable development, which they claim some of the canceled projects lacked.
Development experts warn that the dual challenges of canceled projects and slow ADP implementation could hinder Bangladesh’s progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Key areas such as poverty alleviation, education, healthcare, and infrastructure development are likely to suffer.
1 month ago
Prof Yunus invited to join Padma Bridge inaugural programme
The government has invited Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus to join the opening programme of the Padma Bridge on June 25.
The Bridges Division sent the invitation card to Yunus Centre on Wednesday, Director (Administration) of Bangladesh Bridge Authority Rupam Anwar told UNB on Thursday.
Read: BNP turns down invitation to join Padma Bridge opening programme
Yunus Centre Deputy General Manager (DGM) Rahima Khatun received the invitation card.
Rahima told UNB that they have already sent the invitation to Prof Yunus.
The inauguration of the Padma Bridge will be celebrated in 64 districts of the country simultaneously on June 25.
2 years ago
‘Honoured and overwhelmed’: Dr Yunus after receiving Olympic Laurel
Noble Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has said he is "honoured and overwhelmed" to receive the Olympic Laurel.
"I'm honoured and overwhelmed to receive this Olympic Laurel. And so sad I can’t be there with you," he said in his acceptance speech.
Prof Yunus received the Olympic Laurel as only the second person in history when the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics took place on Friday.
The distinction was created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to honour outstanding individuals for their achievements in education, culture, development and peace through sport.
The IOC is taking the social dimension of sports very seriously, Prof Yunus shared on his verified Facebook page on Friday.
"You, athletes of the world, can provide the leadership in transforming this world," he said.
Prof Yunus called for creating a world of three zeros - zero net carbon emission, zero wealth concentration to end poverty and once for all, zero unemployment by unleashing the power of entrepreneurship in everyone.
Read: Prof Yunus renews call for ensuring vaccine equality breaking profit wall
He wished the IOC success with its mission to help transform this world to a more peaceful world through sport.
"I wish all of you best of luck for your competitions," he said, thanking all for this award. "That’s so special to me. Thank you."
“Bangladesh will be so proud of this award because Bangladesh is a country that doesn’t get close to an Olympic medal. But they’ve a cause to celebrate now. The whole world will watch a Bangladeshi receiving an Olympic award which will make every single person of Bangladesh proud of it. I believe it’ll be something that Bangladesh will remember for long,” said Prof Yunus during a virtual press meet recently.
Prof Yunus is also the recipient of numerous international awards for his ideas and endeavours and is a member of the board of the United Nations Foundation.
In 2006, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding Grameen Bank, which pioneered the concepts of microcredit and microfinance for people living in poverty.
The first-ever Olympic Laurel was awarded to the Kenyan Olympian and social changemaker Kip Keino on 5 August 2016, during the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro.
Initiated for Rio 2016, the Olympic Laurel is to be awarded at the opening ceremony of each summer edition of the Olympic Games.
3 years ago
AIT launches Yunus Professional Masters Degree
Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), the leading university in Asean, has launched the Yunus Professional Masters in Social Business and Entrepreneurship.
The professional post-graduate programme will start enrolling students in August and is likely to appeal to its intended audience of mid-career professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus and AIT President Professor Eden Woon addressed the global launching of the programme online on Wednesday.
Professor Faiz Shah, director of Yunus Centre at AIT and also the academic head of Yunus Professional Masters Programme, presented the details of the content of the programme, the Yunus Centre said on Friday.
Also read: Dr. Yunus made chancellor of Malaysian University
He said this programme is a one-of-a-kind masters degree to translate the vision of the Nobel peace laureate.
Professor Yunus, a thought leader in social business and enterprise-led development, said: "The problems of the world are created in classrooms; they pass on to students only a narrow selfish narrative of the world."
He said education is like watching the same side of the moon, again and again, never allowing the students to ask the question of what is on the other side of the moon.
"In our campuses, we have to build new rockets and spacecraft to take us to the forbidden side of the academic moon. This masters degree will be an initiative to build that rocket to explore the other side," Professor Yunus said.
President Eden Woon said Professor Yunus has inspired millions around the world. "This programme will be highly attractive in this day and age when the world is not doing very well."
Also read: It’s universities’ job to redesign economic theories: Dr Yunus
The degree will be a curated programme, built from the School of Environment, Resources and Development and School of Management of AIT, containing an integrated practicum led by Professor Yunus, and connected with the social business academia network connecting 91 universities located in five continents.
Students learn development precepts and management principles through regular coursework and acquire practical exposure through the internship integrated into the Yunus Colloquium.
AIT, the entrepreneurial heartland of Asia, has accomplished the rank of top 20 in a global ranking for its commitment and performance around integrating the UN SDGs, particularly eliminating poverty, into the curriculum and research.
3 years ago
People's Lives Must Matter More Than Pharma Companies' Profit
History of human beings is a history of being driven basically by collective interest, not by personal interest. Economists made us believe that we are driven only by personal interest, and act accordingly through profit maximization. It is time to restore our core identity by making businesses to serve society’s needs first and foremost; profit cannot come at the expense of human well-being, and human life. Nowhere should that be more true than our health—which was enshrined by our leaders as a fundamental right when I was merely 6 years old, in the 1946 constitution of the World Health Organization.
4 years ago
Yunus portrait commissioned by Vanderbilt University
Dhaka, Sept 14 (UNB) - Sedrick Huckaby, an American artist, visited Yunus Centre last week to paint a portrait of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus for the Vanderbilt Trailblazers portrait series which honours members of the Vanderbilt community who broke barriers.
5 years ago
Shanghai to launch Grameen Programme, create Social Business Institute
Dhaka, Aug 5 (UNB)- Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus attended several events and meetings in Shanghai on the last day of the Social Business Week in China on August 1.
5 years ago