This policy brief highlights the critical role Bangladeshi youth can play in accelerating the country’s transition toward a nutrition-sensitive, climate-resilient, and inclusive food system. Despite strong grassroots involvement—through school campaigns, digital advocacy, entrepreneurship, and youth-led community initiatives—young people remain largely absent from formal governance platforms.
The brief introduces a practical three-level framework for meaningful youth engagement in policy: Consulted, Represented, and Targeted. Figure 1 on page 4 visually outlines these progressive pathways for integrating youth into decision-making. The document also maps existing policy spaces, such as the National Youth Policy, Department of Youth Development, National Youth Council, SUN Youth Network Bangladesh, and youth-led campaigns like Bhalo Khabo Bhalo Thakbo, which has reached over one million adolescents.
Key barriers include fragmented coordination, lack of formal youth representation in bodies such as the BNNC and NFNSP/NPAN2 committees, and insufficient funding and institutional mechanisms for youth involvement.
The brief recommends formalizing youth roles in national and subnational committees, strengthening inter-ministerial coordination, resourcing youth engagement, expanding leadership training, integrating food systems into educational curricula, developing youth internship pipelines in ministries, and using digital tools—including youth engagement scorecards—to track progress.
The authors conclude that Bangladesh is at a pivotal moment: embedding youth into decision-making now is essential for achieving Vision 2041 and building a resilient, equitable food system for future generations.
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