Project Name: Empowered Youth Labor Force (EYLF)

Duration: 1.3 years

Funded by: The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Summary: A consortium was formed between BYLC, James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, and Rutgers to develop a tailor-made SRHR curriculum that was integrated into BYLC’s existing youth-centric training programmes focusing on leadership, professional entrepreneurial skills, and into BYLC’s online learning platform. Through its unique position and infrastructure, BYLC aimed to reach approximately 2,000 new young people through online and in-person training and empowered them to make safe and informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). In particular, through this initiative, young people gained comprehensive sexuality and SRHR knowledge along with BYLC’s flagship Leadership Training and other programmes. This addressed the gap of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in the current schooling system. Due to socio-cultural and religious challenges, there were considerable barriers, taboos, and resistance to sharing information on sexuality in secondary and higher secondary schools in Bangladesh. Hence, a knowledge and information gap remained among young adults while growing up, as they missed out on receiving this very important education. Inclusion of SRHR in this training module enabled this large group of youth to exercise their voice and agency in terms of their SRHR, both in public and private spheres (workplace, social circles, domestic life, and beyond), and to demand and ensure that their own rights were not infringed upon. In this project, BYLC collaborated with BRAC JPGSPH and Rutgers, as they had extensive training experience in advancing SRHR rights and awareness in Bangladesh and globally. Incorporating these ideas into BYLC’s training programmes resulted in a trickle-down effect of the knowledge shared across the populace. As BYLC’s reach spanned across ages 9 to 34, these themes were sustained and shared across multiple generations through their leadership and within the ventures they engaged in.