SIL Bangladesh

Active Citizens

The aim of the Active Citizen Program is to inspire and develop young people so that they can be ‘globally connected and locally engaged’, working for change in their own regions. Young people are encouraged to learn more about themselves within their own community, and to connect with others. They build relationships with local people and connect with like-minded agencies and civil society. They also have opportunities to share their achievements and experiences at a national and international level, as well as through the website and social media.

As a result of globalization, we are all much more connected than we were in the past - culturally, politically and economically. The Active Citizen program aims to use this positively, bringing people together to work for peace and bring about sustainable development. The program recognizes that local decisions have global impact and that global decisions affect people locally.

The Active Citizen training covers four different steps.  ‘Me: Identity and culture’ considers the ways in which individuals form their own identity. ‘Me and You: Dialogue and Debate’ looks at how we connect with others, including communication techniques and ways of giving and receiving feedback. The ‘We Together: Citizenship’ step focuses on issues such as the rights and roles of citizens, power and position, gender equality and establishing dreams for the participants’ own areas. The last part of the training is on ‘Social Action’ and looks at how to plan social action and advocacy. The main aim is to ensure sustainable development and peaceful coexistence.

SIL Bangladesh is working in partnership with British Council and Active Citizens is a social leadership training program that promotes intercultural dialogue and community-led social development. Since the launch of Active Citizens in 2009, the program has been run worldwide in 40 countries including Bangladesh and with 450 partner organizations. The British Council and its partner organizations have been working with mainstream youth, but SIL Bangladesh is now introducing the project with minority Language groups. In 2015 SIL reached 165 youths with Kurux, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Mahle, Tripura Ushoi, Marma, Santali, Koch and Hajong communities in different parts of Bangladesh. This year SIL will continue this training with new communities of Bangladesh.