Bangladesh has achieved the fellowship of United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and Millennium Campus Network (MCN) for the first time ever. Four universities from Bangladesh have been selected for the 2021 Millennium Fellowship Class (MFC).
The strong commitment and enthusiasm for social impact and community welfare of 11 students of the University of Chittagong (CU) have made them selected for MFC. They will represent CU and Bangladesh on this prestigious programme as ‘Millennium Fellows’ with their five socially beneficial projects.
Along with CU, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), Brac University and Asian University for Women are set to represent Bangladesh on this prestigious programme.
Millennium Fellowship is a semester-long leadership program that brings together student leaders from around the world. It aims to assist students in developing the values, professional abilities, and career paths necessary to thrive in the social impact sphere.
In 2021, more than 120 campuses (about 6% of the total) have been chosen to host over 2,000 Millennium Fellows.Millennium Fellows from CU have grabbed the opportunity by competing with over 25,000 undergraduate leaders worldwide from over 2,200 campuses across 153 nations.
Israt Jahan Munni, Israt Jahan Leena, Mahmudul Hasan, Moriom Jahan Sayma, UmmeSayeda, YeasinArfat- 6 of these Millennium Fellows from CU Cohort are working on 'Transforming Speciality’, a project aiming to focus on SDG 4 and SDG 8 and to support the low vision students of CU. They are working for the academic betterment, career and skill development, and ensuring active engagement in extra-curricular activities of visually impaired students on campus.
Md Nafhsin Mabud Efti and Tanaya Nath, two CU Millennium Fellows, are leading a project, 'Socialize Transgenders (Mainstreaming them in society)' with the support of ‘Better Future Bangladesh’, a government-registered volunteering organization. The project focuses on SDG 5 and working for the transgender population by bringing them to civil society by celebrating festivals, finding a good workplace, managing a better household, and arranging various programs.
Abdullah Al Hasan, another Millennium Fellow, is leading ‘Pathchola Foundation’. His organization has been working to ensure social justice by empowering marginalized communities, creating employability and competency. His project focuses on SDG 5, SDG 13, and SDG 16 and has already benefited about 200 beneficiaries.
Khadija Rashni is leading her project ‘Prospect of Bangladesh’, focusing on SDG 4. She has been working to ensure quality education for poor children for the last four years. They are working to reduce the dropout rate of the school-going poor children by providing educational instruments and creating awareness among poor students.
Millennium fellow Tasnim Rahman Nafis is leading an initiative to help rural communities called 'Shikkhai Shobar Mukti’, which aspires to provide universal education and eliminate gender discrimination. This project is directly related to SDG 4(Quality Education) and indirectly to SDGs 1, 2, and 5. Besides, its goal is to reach underserved rural communities and show them that education is the most realistic route out of severe poverty.
