Youth Opportunities, along with IPDC, has initiated a national writing competition to empower the youth to raise their voice, share their thoughts, and pitch their ideas and recommends to policymakers.

Bangladeshis aged between 18 and 35 years old, living here or abroad, are eligible to participate in the competition "Write to Fight Post COVID-19 Era", said a press release.

The writing categories are -- protecting migrant workers and flow of remittance, promoting young employment and job creation, supporting the SMEs, safeguarding women employment and empowerment, protecting marginalised communities, ensuring agricultural sustainability, fostering education and digital learning, strengthening healthcare systems, boosting social safety net programmes and reviving exports.

Winners from each category will be awarded Tk 10,000 each as a research grant from IPDC and will receive internship opportunities at the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

The runners-up from each group will be awarded with a free one-year library membership at British Council. All participants will get e-certificates endorsed by all the partners.

The submission deadline is on May 25; interested persons are requested to visit https://host.youthop.com/write2fight/

Osama Bin Noor, co-founder of the Youth Opportunities, said, "The majority of the country's population is young and they often share their concerns on social media, which may not reach concerned stakeholders. Through this initiative, young people can let their voice be heard by policymakers and become a part of the nation's post pandemic recovery plan and overcome the challenges."

The Daily Star is a partner of this initiative. The other partners are: the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, a2i - Access to Information, Bangladesh Scouts, British Council, BRAC Youth Platform, LightCastle Partners, Channel24, The Daily Samakal, and UTV Live.