From Manila to Bangladesh: Rethinking the role of youth and development
What happens when regional development, the aspirations of young people, the role of civil society, and the interests of business are discussed in the same space?
That question was quietly present across three concurrent events held recently at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) headquarters in Manila.
The 6th Asia and Pacific Youth Symposium (APYS6), CSO Insights: A Listening and Dialogue Forum, and the Business Opportunities Fair (BOF) brought together different groups working across Asia and the Pacific.
Their agendas were different, but the underlying challenge was remarkably similar: how can development institutions create systems in which people are not simply beneficiaries or participants, but active contributors to development?
Bangladesh has a large and increasingly educated young population, a strong civil society network, a growing private sector, and a food system supporting millions of livelihoods.
The country has entered a new political phase, with young people increasingly visible in public discourse and civic engagement.
The opportunity is bigger than the farm
In Bangladesh, agriculture provides more than 40% of total employment and plays a vital role in growth and rural livelihoods.
Agricultural development is crucial for employment, household income, and poverty reduction. However, agriculture is still often presented to young people mainly as farming.
That narrow definition may be one reason why many young people do not see the sector as a pathway for their future.
But today’s food system extends far beyond the farm gate. There are opportunities in food processing, logistics, digital agriculture, nutrition, food technology, climate adaptation, financial services, and agribusiness.
A young person can develop a business connecting farmers to markets, create a nutritious food product, introduce digital tools for supply-chain management, or work on technologies that reduce food loss.
This is particularly relevant for Bangladesh, where the future of food will depend not only on producing more, but on producing better, reducing losses, improving nutrition, strengthening markets, and making food systems more resilient to climate pressures.
Agriculture should be understood as an ecosystem of careers, enterprise, and innovation.
The private sector has an important role in making this transition possible. Investment in processing, cold chains, logistics, technology, skills and market infrastructure can create opportunities well beyond primary production.
International development financing can support this transformation, but financing alone cannot deliver it.
Bangladesh needs a more stable, business-friendly environment, capable institutions, investment-ready businesses, skilled people, and partnerships that can convert capital into outcomes.
The enabling environment matters
Bangladesh has initiatives addressing a range of development challenges. There are programmes for youth employment, skills development, agricultural productivity, climate resilience, entrepreneurship, and social protection.
There is considerable scope to improve how these initiatives are designed, connected, planned, and implemented so that they deliver better results.
A young entrepreneur needs access to finance, skills, technology, and markets. A small food business needs reliable infrastructure and predictable regulations.
A community organisation needs resources, institutional recognition and space to contribute its knowledge. Farmers need access to markets and services, not simply training.
Finance, infrastructure, digital connectivity, policy coherence, institutional trust, and effective public-private collaboration can determine whether a promising intervention survives beyond a project cycle.
In Bangladesh, development thinking increasingly needs to move from asking what programme should be implemented to asking what conditions will allow people and institutions to sustain progress.
Civil society brings knowledge, not just capacity to implement
The experience of civil society organisations across the region offers another important lesson.
CSOs are frequently brought into development programmes as implementation partners. Their role, however, can be much broader.
Local organisations often understand community priorities, social dynamics and local barriers in ways that larger institutions cannot easily replicate. Meaningful engagement needs to begin before programme implementation.
Civil society needs to be part of conversations about priorities, design and accountability from the outset. It also means recognising that local knowledge is part of development expertise.
Youth engagement needs to move beyond participation
The focus on meaningful youth engagement at APYS6 also carries a clear message for Bangladesh. Young people are often invited to conferences, consultations, and panels.
These spaces matter, but participation becomes meaningful only when young people have opportunities to influence decisions, develop solutions and take responsibility for implementation.
Bangladesh’s demographic advantage will not automatically become a development advantage.
It depends on whether young people can access the skills, finance, networks, and institutional spaces needed to turn ideas into action. The same principle applies to business and civil society.
Businesses need predictable markets and partnerships, while civil society needs a genuine role in shaping priorities.
From participation to partnership
The most important lesson from the discussions in Manila may therefore be less about any individual programme or financing opportunity and more about how different actors work together.
Government remains central to creating the policy and institutional environment. Development institutions can provide finance, knowledge, and convening power.
Businesses can bring investment, innovation, and market solutions. Civil society can contribute community knowledge and accountability.
Young people can bring new ideas, energy, and a willingness to challenge established approaches.
These roles should not operate in separate lanes.
For Bangladesh, the next phase of development will require stronger connections between them.
The country needs systems that connect youth development with agriculture, entrepreneurship, skills, and career opportunities.
The question is whether the systems and environment are ready to support a better future for Bangladesh, one where businesses are willing to invest, young people are more meaningfully engaged, and civil society organisations can work closely with communities.
Are government, young people, civil society organisations, businesses, and other relevant stakeholders doing their part to make this happen?
(The writer coordinates the Youth and Adolescent Nutrition programme at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and also coordinates the SUN Business Network Bangladesh and SUN Youth Network Bangladesh)
