Staff Reporter Dhaka : Youth Start-up Competition 2022” organized by Youth Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Support(YES) Activity for Cox’s Bazar, supported by USAIDThe unexpected exodus of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar has caused damage on the social, economic,and political fabric of Bangladeshi host communities in Cox’s Bazar. While the initial reaction to the influxwas one of empathy, increased competition for jobs and public services, as well as, environmentaldegradation has worn host communities’ patience to breaking point.Aiming to fulfill the entrepreneurship aspirations of young entrepreneurs in Cox’s Bazar,

USAID’s YouthEntrepreneurship and Empowerment Support (YES) Activity comprised of Relief International, mPowerSocial, CCDB and YPSA organized “Youth Start-up Competition 2022” on 31st October, 2022. Amonghundreds of entries from Cox’s Bazar, 10 best business ideas were presented during the competition fromwhich the three best entrepreneurs were selected as winners.The judges of the competition were –1. Shahana SharminChief of Party, USAID’s YES Activity, Relief International2. Zaki HaiderDirector of Innovation, mPower Social3. Imran KibriaHead of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, CCDBMd. Abdus Salam Sikder, Deputy Director, Department of Youth Development was the chief guest of theevent which was moderated by Imtiaz Alam Tanim from mPower Social. Adnan Mehedee Khan, K. M.Ragibul Haque and Ikbal Hossain were responsible for the overall coordination of the event.Youth is about possibilities; youth is about building the future. The youths of Cox’s Bazar are gettinginvolved in various educational and developmental activities with the support and sponsorship ofgovernment and private institutions which is terms is creating an awareness among them around theircareer and entrepreneurship aspirations. As an appreciation towards the efforts of the youths in Cox’sBazar, USAID’s YES Activity organized this event. The three winners of the start-up competition wereawarded with crest, certificates and prize money.
USAID’s YES Activity is working in 4 sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar to foster social cohesion and build peaceamong the youths of the host community in Cox’s Bazar by providing technical and vocational skills in agender-responsive conflict sensitive approach adhering to Do No Harm principles; and to strengthen thecapacity of civil society organizations, government agencies, and private sector actors to become moresocially and economically resilient by addressing the socio-economic causes of conflict between host andForcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) communities.The winners of the event are -1. Nazma Akter (Palongki Konna)2. Md. Sakir Alam (Plastic Bank)3. Jannatul Ferdous Sathi (Sathi Fashion Tailors & Training Center)