Call for youth engagement in local governance for sustainable development

March 20, 2019

Young Researcher sharing their views on Local Governance Issues.

Speakers in a training workshop called for greater youth participation in Bangladesh’s local governance for attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

They were speaking at a two-day event on “Local Governance Issues” held from 20 March at the National Institute of Local Governance office.


It was organised by the Efficient and Accountable Local Governance (EALG) project of the United National Development Programme (UNDP) in association with the Local Government Division of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.


The workshop brought together 52 young researchers from different public universities who received BDT 160,000 research grants in groups or as individuals.

The grants are provided by the  EALG project of UNDP, in partnership with the Institute of Bangladesh Studies (IBS)- University of Rajshahi, Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), and National Institute of Local Government (NILG).

They are expected to enhance understanding on local governance issues of the researchers and improve their skills.

Speaking at the inauguration session of the workshop, Amitavh Sarker, Additional Secretary, Local Government Division and EALG National Project Director said, “This is the first time Local Government Division with support from UNDP, took an initiative to create a platform for young researchers to work on local governance issues and come up with results.”

He urged the youth to work for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, leaving no one behind.  

Among others, Md. Zahirul Islam, Deputy National Project Director of EALG project, Md. Mozammel Haque, Policy Specialist of UNDP Bangladesh, Abu Shahin Md. Ashaduzzaman, Project Coordinator of EALG project were also present in the training.


Strengthening local governance has been a key focus of the government of Bangladesh and UNDP and as a part of its continuous interventions, UNDP, in collaboration with SDC and DANIDA, has developed the Efficient and Accountable Local Governance (EALG) Project with the aim to strengthen the capacities of local governments (Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad) to foster participatory local development in the rural areas.