Most of the youths in the country (around 74.2 percent) want to exercise their vote in the upcoming national election shaping the collective future, according to a research unveiled on Thursday.

Bangladesh Youth Leadership Centre (BYLC) in association with Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ) of Brac University recently conducted the countrywide ‘Youth Matters’ survey  ahead of the general election.

Besides, the youths (around 71.5 percent) in the country feel unsafe expressing their opinions in public platforms, reveals the study conducted to understand the aspirations, priorities, and viewpoints of Bangladesh’s youth.

The study, which included 5,609 youths from all over Bangladesh, is intended to provide insights for political parties’ manifesto ahead of the upcoming national election.

BYLC conducts this survey every five years ahead of the national election. The study, conducted in all 8 divisions of Bangladesh in September 2023, asked youth about their opinions and perceptions on education, health, livelihoods, climate change, justice, democracy and governance, information, and migration.

Around 55.3 percent of respondents stated that Bangladesh lacks peace while 63 percent of respondents believe that peace has deteriorated in Bangladesh in the last five years.
In terms of pursuing livelihood, 48.7 percent of youth are interested in entrepreneurship as a future profession, highlighting the growing entrepreneurial mindset of Bangladesh’s youth.

Improving education is a top priority for youths, with 57.7 percent mentioning inadequate instructor quality and 44.4 percent recommending leadership and soft skills training to be incorporated in the curriculum.

Emotional and physical wellness of youth is adversely affected by inflation in commodity prices (61.8 percent), socio-political-economic conditions (45.1 percent), and job insecurity (40.2 percent).
The survey reveals that climate change affects 73.4 percent of youth, highlighting growing awareness among today’s youth about impacts of the climate crisis.

Regarding the governance, 88 percent of survey respondents underscored corruption as a major barrier to good governance in Bangladesh, while 29.1 percent said that they are concerned about dwindling democratic rights in Bangladesh.

A significant 42.4 percent are considering leaving the country, citing socio-economic concerns (75.5 percent), skill-job mismatch (50.9 percent), and restricted educational options (42.3 percent) as reasons.

On the positive side, 85.5 percent of those who said they would leave the country said that they would return if conditions improved in Bangladesh. Despite all the challenges in the country, 56.8 percent of respondents said that they are optimistic about Bangladesh's future.

While speaking at the press conference, BYLC’s founder and executive chairperson Ejaj Ahmad said that the platform should not see youth only as future leaders, but as current leaders.

“To ensure meaningful youth participation, we should not only incorporate their viewpoints in our national policies but also provide space for them to exercise leadership in local and national levels, including politics, business and civil sectors,” he said.

BYLC’s executive director Tahsinah Ahmed, CPJ’s research director Sanjeeb Hossain and research associate Tasnia Khandaker also spoke at the programme.