Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has urged young people to form their own vision of the world rather than merely adapting to the status quo, calling on them to be “courageous” in turning those visions into reality, according to a government notification issued on Sunday (Oct 12).
He delivered the message during a meeting with a delegation of young representatives of parliament from Sweden and Norway at the State Guest House Jamuna on Saturday.
“People say youth is the future; I say youth is the present,” Yunus told the visitors, encouraging them to ask, “What kind of world do I want to create?” and to commit to building it through technology, entrepreneurship and civic action.
The delegation included Swedish youth leaders Alice Landerholm (Moderate youth movement), Arian Twana (Social Democratic youth), Anton Holmlund (Liberal Youth), Dexter Krokstedt (Sweden Democrats’ youth), Hanna Lindqvist (Green Youth) and Max Pelin (Young Christian Democrats); and, from Norway, Oda Røhme Sivertsen (Young Conservatives), Lars Mikael Barstad Løvold (Progress Party Youth) and Syver Kleve Kolstad (Red Youth).
Also present were UNDP representatives Stefan Liller (Resident Representative, Bangladesh), Caroline Åberg (UNDP Nordic Representation Office), Kirtijai Pahari (Strategic Communications and External Relations Specialist) and Emilie Andresen (Communications), along with Sweden’s Ambassador Nicolas Weeks and Norway’s Ambassador Håkon Arald Gulbrandsen.
In a wide-ranging discussion, the visitors asked about the July Uprising, youth participation, institutional reforms and the forthcoming national election.
Yunus said the moment was “historic,” noting particularly the role of young women. He described a multi-party process toward a “July Charter” following months of debate by more than 30 parties, and said several reform commissions had been formed to build consensus.
Yunus invited the delegation to explore Bangladesh “firsthand,” calling Dhaka’s streets a “living museum of youth resistance and dreams.” The exchange also covered his “Theory of Three Zeros”—a world with zero net carbon emissions, zero wealth concentration and zero unemployment through social business and widespread entrepreneurship.
SMS/
