Youth-led social accountability teams across seven districts organized stakeholder meetings to present community research findings and advocate for practical solutions to local challenges. With support from the Youth for Policy central team, the district youth teams engaged local government officials, service providers, education representatives, technical training institutions, NGO actors, community leaders, women representatives, and media representatives.
The stakeholder meetings served as an important platform for young volunteers to bring community voices directly to relevant decision-makers. Through these meetings, the youth teams presented evidence-based findings on issues related to education, employment, health, women’s safety, safe drinking water, climate-related risks, and access to public services.
Before the stakeholder meetings, youth volunteers received training on social accountability tools, community research, and advocacy approaches. After the training, they conducted field-level research in Dinajpur, Satkhira, Moulvibazar, Bogura, Barguna, Pabna, and Khulna. They collected information through community interviews, local consultations, and discussion forums. Based on the findings, the teams identified core problems, validated community concerns, listed potential stakeholders, and prepared research reports for advocacy.
During the stakeholder meetings, each district team presented locally identified issues. In Dinajpur, youth volunteers highlighted poverty, education disruption, unemployment, and social risks in Mahali Para, a Santal community in Dinajpur Sadar. In Satkhira, volunteers presented the impact of salinity and lack of safe drinking water on coastal communities, particularly women and children. In Moulvibazar, the Youth for Policy Sreemangal Committee, supported by the Youth for Policy central team, organized a Social Accountability Advocacy Forum focusing on women’s safety and education barriers in the tea garden community.
In Bogura, the youth team raised concerns related to poverty, school dropout, child marriage, unemployment, and drug-related risks in Fapor Union. In Barguna, volunteers documented how salinity, natural disasters, limited industrial opportunities, and lack of union-level training facilities are affecting youth employment prospects. In Pabna, the team focused on the gap between educational qualifications and employable technical skills in Dogachi village. In Khulna, volunteers presented school-level service gaps at Jalma Chakrakhali Government Primary School, including safe water, sanitation, classroom shortages, and teacher shortages affecting around 400 students.
The meetings created space for constructive dialogue between youth volunteers and responsible stakeholders. Stakeholders acknowledged the issues presented by the youth teams and discussed possible areas of action. They emphasized the need for skills development, technical training, youth employment support, women’s income-generating opportunities, awareness campaigns, safe water solutions, education support, and stronger monitoring of local services. In several districts, stakeholders also provided assurances for institutional cooperation and future follow-up.
After the meetings, the youth volunteers documented the discussions, recorded key commitments, and identified possible next steps for continued advocacy. The process strengthened their practical skills in evidence collection, communication, stakeholder engagement, and civic participation