DHAKA: Democracy International (DI) kicked off its fifth class of the political fellowship program here on Sunday (November 23).

This class consists of 30 mid-level political leaders and will continue until April 2015. Over the next six months, the fellows will receive different kinds of training including: IT, media, advocacy, good governance, ethics, preventing political violence, and research. In addition, they will work for their political party in their home district, said a press release on Tuesday.

DI’s Fellowship program is aimed at supporting mid-level grassroots political youth leaders, by increasing their capacity to be responsible leaders and promoting themselves within their party.

This class will also be working alongside the 101 members of DI’s Fellowship Alumni Association, Youth Leaders for the Future,” on issues relating to intraparty dialogue, preventing political violence, and local advocacy.

Participants from Dhaka city are: Nadia Pathan Papon, BM Nazim Mahmud and Mohammad Omar Faruk.

“DI is committed to promoting and supporting young political leaders in the political process in Bangladesh. This program will provide the fellows with lifelong skills that will aid them in their future political careers,” said Democracy International’s Chief of Party, Noel Boxer.

Democracy International (DI) is an international organization implementing Democratic Participation and Reform, a five-year long democracy and governance project funded jointly by USAID and UK aid. DPR has three objectives: to increase grassroots participation, enhance information access and utilization, and improve the environment for responsive politics.

To create opportunities for young party leaders to employ their political leadership skills, Democracy International Bangladesh (DI) runs a six-month fellowship program with partner political parties.

These fellowships help develop a new generation of accomplished young party managers, and strengthen the role of youth and women in their party’s leadership structures by providing opportunities for party officials and young leaders to work together. The Fellowships are intended to create more space for young party members to exercise leadership skills and to attract talented young Bangladeshis to careers in politics.

BDST: 1750 HRS, NOV 25, 2014