Dhaka 11 March 2018: A panel discussion was organized at United International University (UIU) campus in Baridhara with the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day – “Time is Now: Rural and Urban activists transforming women’s lives”. To mark the Day, UNV Bangladesh, UNIC Dhaka jointly with UIU arranged the panel discussion. The Vice Chancellor of UIU Prof. Dr Chowdhury Mofizur Rahman presided over the session while UNDP Deputy Country Director Ms Kyoko Yokosuka formally opened the event putting emphasis on women empowerment and upliftment of women’s life mainly in rural areas. The panelists were Chief News Editor of News24 Ms Shahnaz Munni, International UN Volunteer of UNFPA Ms Anna Von Hörsten, Professor of School of Business & Economics of UIU Dr Salma Karim, National Information Officer of UNIC M.Moniruzzaman. National Programme analyst of UNV Bangladesh Mr. Md Aktar Uddin moderated the session. The panelists highlighted on the theme of the Day and encouraged youth to take part in volunteerism and stressed on how to be a part of UN through UN Careers. The discussants also stressed that the youth volunteers can play critical role in localizing SDGs in Bangladesh as youth represents 40% of total population in the country.  UN Secretary-General’s video message on the Day was screened at the beginning of the event. Students of the university took part in the Q/A session. UNIC Dhaka distributed UN Publications in Bengali among all the participants.

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