Primary and Mass Education State Minister Md Zakir Hossain on Monday said it is not possible to build a beautiful country without volunteers who are genuine social workers.
He said currently about ten lakh volunteers are working in the country as the government is encouraging youth volunteers, youths struggled during the National Language Movement voluntarily and they liberated the country.
The state minister said this at a seminar marking the International ‘Volunteer Day’ organized by Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) held at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Building at Dhaka University (DU) on Monday.
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DU Vice-Chancellor Prof Md Akhtaruzzaman chaired the function. Country Representative of Malala Fund Mosharraf Tansen presented the keynote papers while Programme Director of British Council David Knox, Education Advisor of Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office Mohammad Golam Kibria, Programme Development Specialist of USAID Shaheen Bin Siraz and Executive Director of Sesame Bangladesh Mohammad Shah Alam and Acting Country Director of the VSO Khabirul Haque Kamal addressed the inaugural session of the function.
Zakir Hossain said the government has undertaken many initiatives, including the formation of the Voluntary Policy with the aim of developing the country.
He urged volunteers across the country to come forward to fight any disasters in the country, further seeking help from them to prevent early marriage in the country.
Prof Akhtaruzzaman also urged the young generation to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country through participation in voluntary activities.
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Several representatives from the government, donor agencies, NGOs, International NGOs, CSO, UN, Youth Organizations, volunteers, and Civil Society participated in the event.
The event was divided into four sessions – ‘Volunteerism to Rebuild the Nation’, ‘Climate Change and Youth Actions’, ‘Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Women Empowerment’, and ‘Youth and Entrepreneurship.
Source: United News of Bangladesh