South African police are investigating the deaths of at least 20 people at a nightclub in the coastal town of East London early Sunday morning. It is unclear what led to the deaths of the young people, who were reportedly attending a party to celebrate the end of winter school exams. Read:Survivors recount Mali's deadliest attack since coup Local newspaper Daily Dispatch reported that bodies were strewn across tables and chairs without any visible signs of injuries. “At this point we cannot confirm the cause of death,” said health department spokesperson Siyanda Manana. “We are going to conduct autopsies as soon as possible to establish the probable cause of death. The deceased have been taken to state mortuaries,” Manana added. Police Minister Bheki Cele was on Sunday morning expected to visit the scene. The owner of the club, Siyakhangela Ndevu, told local broadcaster eNCA that he had been called to the scene early Sunday morning. Read: 55 people killed in latest attack in northern Burkina Faso “I am still uncertain about what really happened, but when I was called in the morning I was told the place was too full and that some people were trying to force their way into the tavern," he said. “However, we will hear what the police say about the cause of death,” Ndevu added.

The youths should be involved beyond passive consultation processes and encouraged to actively provide inputs to local and national Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) accountability mechanisms. But the voice of the young people, who make up more than a third of the country's population, is missing in the implementation of the SDGs. Experts made the observations at the dialogue "Accountability for SDG Implementation: Local Perspectives and Youth" organised by Citizen's Platform for SDGs Bangladesh and ActionAid Bangladesh Sunday. "Among the 122 indicators of SDGs, eight are directly focused on youth employment, various injustice, educational rights and others. Undoubtedly, we need to pay attention to the assessment, evaluation and voice of the youth," said Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, convenor of Citizen's Platform. ActionAid Country Director Farah Kabir said: "Though Bangladesh prepared two voluntary national reviews in 2017 and 2020 respectively to assess the implementation status of the SDGs, youth and marginalised communities were not fully involved in the process." "So, the voluntary local reviews need to be prepared through the district, sub-district and community levels, especially involving young men and young women below the age of 35 years and who have been left behind lately due to the pandemic."

The youth of Bangladesh have acted as agents of social transformations in their communities during the Covid pandemic. The words of appreciation for the youth have come from the city's civic authorities as well as non-government bodies.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said the government wants to see the young people in the global fight to achieve climate justice for Bangladesh. 

Young people, who are differently affected by the global pandemic in Cox’s Bazar,  have made a call for inclusion in decision making processes on the day of International Youth Day.

The COVID-19 crisis is having a devastating effect on the education and training of young people and Bangladesh is no exception, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said Wednesday.