https://www.sunyouthnetworkbangladesh.org/

SUN Youth Network Bangladesh, House 20, Road 99, Gulshan 2, Dhaka (2026)

10/05/2026

Meet Selim!

Md. Selim Islam is a youth leader from Dinajpur dedicated to transforming food systems, nutrition awareness, and community development. He works closely with the Village Social Development Association (VSDA), where he has engaged in youth leadership training, awareness campaigns, workshops, and humanitarian support activities. Through this work, he continues to empower young people while supporting vulnerable communities.

His flagship initiative, Amar Pusti Bagan: My Nutrition Garden, began with a small organic garden in the courtyard of one family in Kornai Karapara village, a community of many migrant and landless households. The success of this pilot inspired around 17 to 18 neighboring families to start their own nutrition gardens, growing vegetables safely and sustainably. With guidance from local agricultural officers, he regularly organizes courtyard meetings to teach organic farming methods and safe food practices.

His efforts have directly reached around 300 people and influenced nearly 1500 to 2000 others indirectly by spreading awareness on nutrition and healthy food systems. His work also provides humanitarian support to around 150 to 200 disadvantaged community members. In addition, he has supported youth engagement by involving around 80 to 100 young leaders, many of whom continue as active volunteers in social initiatives.

His initiatives focus on students, low income and marginalized families, and both rural and peri urban households, helping them grow their own food and adopt healthier eating habits. Around 30 to 40 families have shown interest in starting their own nutrition gardens, while 15 to 20 local decision makers are now more aware of youth led food system transformation.

Looking ahead, Selim envisions strengthening youth leadership, expanding food and nutrition initiatives, integrating technology, and building partnerships with local government and development organizations. He believes lasting change comes from collective youth action, and through his work he is steadily turning that vision into reality.

10/05/2026

Meet Alvi!

Alvi Sheikh, a social entrepreneur from Khulna, is the founder of Rongmohol for Youth, a youth-led organization working since 2018 to promote nutrition, food safety, climate awareness, youth leadership, and social protection.

One of his key initiatives, FoodMohol: Affordable Nutrition for a Healthy Campus, is transforming public college campuses into spaces where safe, nutritious, and affordable food is accessible to students. The initiative also empowers vulnerable women, including survivors of human trafficking, by engaging them in food preparation and management, ensuring both dignity and income opportunities.

Alvi combines awareness and action through campus nutrition sessions, quiz and debate competitions on food safety, student food habit surveys, and low-cost nutritious food stalls. Through these efforts, more than 850 students have been directly reached, while over 9500 young people have been engaged indirectly through social media, peer networks, and community outreach. Nutritious meals are now available for as low as BDT 25, making healthy eating more accessible for students.

The initiative also builds youth leadership by equipping volunteers with skills in advocacy, event management, and program implementation, while creating dignified employment opportunities for marginalized women.

Guided by a vision to scale FoodMohol nationwide, Alvi aims to develop nutrition-friendly campuses across Bangladesh, strengthen youth participation in policy discussions, and expand sustainable livelihood opportunities for women and young people, driving long-term community impact.

10/05/2026

Meet Hanjala!

Hanjala Sarker, 25 years old, from Bogura, is a passionate youth leader transforming knowledge into action for safe, nutritious, and sustainable food systems. His journey began with the Food Systems Youth Leadership Training in Rangpur, where he discovered the powerful role young people can play in advancing nutrition, public health, and community development.

Inspired by the experience, Hanjala launched the “Family Nutrition Garden,” cultivating banana, papaya, bottle gourd, cucumber, red amaranth, Malabar spinach, guava, onion, and chili using safe and pesticide-free methods. The garden not only fulfills his family’s nutritional needs but also generates additional income through surplus produce. His initiative has inspired neighboring households, directly benefiting 12 families and encouraging many others through practical demonstration. Through courtyard meetings (Uthan Boithok), he has reached more than 800 community members with awareness on safe food, nutrition, and home gardening.

At Captain Multimedia School, Hanjala leads the NutriSafe School Initiative by conducting food safety and nutrition awareness campaigns, establishing a Nutrition Club, and supporting students in creating a safe vegetable garden on campus. Today, around 200 students directly benefit from the initiative and continue sharing their knowledge with families at home.

Beyond his own projects, Hanjala mentors youth as a Food Systems Youth Leadership Training facilitator. He has conducted six trainings and served as Team Lead in four additional sessions, equipping more than 240 young participants to launch their own community initiatives. His leadership has also helped engage government stakeholders to ensure long-term support for youth-led actions.

Hanjala also leads “Project Astitto,” a climate action initiative focused on raising awareness about climate change and reducing plastic waste. The project transforms coconut husks into coco dust for nurseries, demonstrating a practical circular economy solution. As the founder of Alokito Bogura, he mobilizes 40 active youth volunteers working on education, safe food, nutrition, and climate initiatives across the district.

Hanjala envisions a future where every household has access to safe, nutritious, and sustainable food. Through youth empowerment, practical action, and community leadership, he is building a model for lasting positive change which is one garden, one school, and one community at a time.

“Real change begins when young people turn knowledge into action and inspire their communities to grow healthier and more sustainable together.” - Hanjala Sarker

10/05/2026

Meet Shanjana!

Shanjana Afrin Riya, a student of Food Engineering and Nutrition Science at the State University of Bangladesh, began her journey in youth leadership through active participation in academic and co-curricular activities within her department. These experiences helped her discover a strong passion for responsibility, collaboration, and creating meaningful change in her community.

Her leadership journey took a transformative turn after joining the Food Systems Youth Leadership (FoSYL) Training under SUN Youth Network Bangladesh and GAIN. Inspired by the training, Shanjana and her team at Mission-Nutri Nature launched the “Eat Right Corner” initiative, dedicated to providing healthy, nutritious, and affordable meals for students across their university.

Through strong collaboration with stakeholders and youth volunteers, the initiative has reached around 2,500 students and staff members by introducing value-added nutritious foods and balanced meal options in the university canteen. Beyond serving meals, Shanjana and her team also conducted research on food product development, raising awareness about healthy eating and encouraging the university community to adopt healthier dietary habits.

As a FoSYL facilitator, she has also empowered other young leaders by sharing knowledge and encouraging local action to improve food systems. Looking ahead, Shanjana hopes to expand the “Eat Right Corner” initiative to schools, colleges, and other universities, demonstrating how youth-led action, collaboration, and innovation can create lasting community impact.

“Healthy eating should never feel unreachable. When nutritious and affordable food becomes accessible, young people naturally choose healthier lifestyles and inspire others to do the same.” - Shanjana Afrin Riya

22/04/2026

Meet Priti!

Priti grew up in a peaceful rural village where life was rich in beauty but not in nutrition awareness. She often heard people say that nutritious food was “only for rich and big-city people.” Priti never accepted that idea. To her, nutrition was never a privilege. It was a right.

While actively working with Volunteer for Bangladesh (VBD), Bagerhat District, Priti carried a strong desire to create real and visible change in her own community. When she was encouraged to apply for the GAIN Youth Grant, she knew this was the opportunity she had been waiting for. From that belief was born her project “Hanging Nutrition Bag,” a simple idea with powerful impact.

The initiative set out to prove that nutrition is possible using local and affordable foods. In Bemorta village of Bagerhat Sadar Upazila, Priti and her team trained 25 families using a 7-day nutritious food menu. To make it inclusive, they designed picture-based menu cards so even families with limited literacy could easily follow them.

Placed inside eco-friendly tote bags and hung in kitchens, the cards became daily reminders that healthy eating starts at home. Each week, Priti visited the families to observe their progress. What she witnessed was transformative. Villagers shared how their daily cooking habits had changed and proudly said, “We live in villages, but now we know nutrition is for everyone.” For Priti, that shift in mindset became the project’s greatest achievement.

The journey was powered by teamwork. Co-leader Alimun Hak Munna played a vital role in implementation, while Shuvojit Saha supported fieldwork and produced a powerful social awareness video. Continuous support from Tahim and Irin Turkey helped strengthen the initiative further.

To extend the impact, Priti and her team organized Uthan Boithok (courtyard meeting) for village-to-village advocacy and conducted a school session with 100 adolescent girls at Bemorta Secondary School, encouraging them to build healthy routines and support their families in making better food choices.

The project’s message traveled beyond Bemorta. Youth leaders from Moulvibazar and Rangpur reached out, eager to replicate the idea in their own communities, a proud moment for Priti and her team.

Today, Hanging Nutrition Bag continues to inspire families in Bagerhat. Children are learning healthy habits, parents are cooking more consciously, and the community is realizing that nutrition is not based on wealth. It is based on knowledge. Priti believes that with continued support and collective effort, nutrition can truly become simple, accessible, and affordable for every rural household.

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Scaling Up Nutrition Movement

22/04/2026

Meet Mahir!

In the busy lanes of Lalbagh Market in Rangpur, where baskets overflow with fresh vegetables every morning, Mahir noticed something most people overlook. Food was available, but awareness was not. Inspired by his Food Systems Youth Leadership Training organised by GAIN and SUN Youth Network Bangladesh, he began asking a simple but powerful question: “Can small ideas from young people solve local problems sustainably?”

Together with fellow youth leader Raisa Mehjabin, Mahir turned that question into action through “Eat Smart, Stay Strong,” a youth-led nutrition awareness initiative that transformed local markets into spaces of learning. Instead of classrooms, they chose the market itself, placing colorful, easy-to-understand nutrition tags beside vegetables to highlight their health benefits.

Soon, shoppers began pausing, reading, and rethinking their choices. Vendors joined the conversation. Nutrition discussions flowed naturally among buyers and sellers, turning everyday shopping into an opportunity for healthier decisions.

For Mahir, the impact goes beyond numbers.

“If our effort changes even one person’s eating habits for the better, that’s our biggest achievement,” he shares.

With the support of Youth for Earth Bangladesh, Nutrition for Change, local vendors, volunteers, and market authorities, what started as a small youth experiment grew into a community-owned movement. Despite early hesitation, persistence and collaboration helped build trust, and results followed.

Today, Eat Smart, Stay Strong stands as proof that youth leadership does not always need big arrangements, just the right idea, in the right place, at the right time. Mahir now envisions scaling the initiative nationwide, believing deeply that when young people are empowered, lasting change becomes possible.

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Scaling Up Nutrition Movement

21/04/2026

Meet Mehedi!

Change began for Mehedi with a realization that food systems are not just something to study, but something young people can actively rebuild with care and courage. A 23-year-old student from Daffodil International University and a Youth Representative of the SUN Youth Network Bangladesh, he found clarity and purpose after being selected for the Training of Trainers on Food Systems Youth Leadership Training organized by GAIN.

What followed was action. Returning to campus, Mehedi began sharing what he had learned, sparking conversations on nutrition, health, and youth leadership. His passion quickly spread beyond his university as he mentored and trained over 100 young leaders across institutions like Barisal University, Bangladesh Agricultural University, and DUET, inspiring them to lead change in their own communities.

But one quiet reality stayed with him. Many university students were skipping breakfast, not by choice, but because of cost, time, or lack of access to healthy food. The result was visible in tired faces, lost focus, and silent struggles that no one talked about.

That is when PUSTI BONDHU was born, meaning “Nutrition Friend.” With support from GAIN, his department, and the university administration, Mehedi turned a simple idea into a powerful movement. Every morning, hot and nutritious khichuri is served on campus for just 25 BDT, making a healthy start to the day affordable and accessible for students.

PUSTI BONDHU is more than a meal. It restores energy, improves learning, builds community, and creates part-time employment for students who become ambassadors of nutrition and leadership. It proves that empathy-led ideas, when backed by youth leadership, can create real and lasting impact.

Mehedi’s journey reminds us that meaningful change does not always begin with big systems. Sometimes it begins with a warm meal shared at the right time, with the right intention.

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Scaling Up Nutrition Movement

20/04/2026

Meet Montaher!

Montaher Arafat is a passionate youth leader and the President of Youth Action for Development (YAD), leading change where it matters most, at the heart of adolescent health and nutrition. As the Team Lead of “PushtiUtsab, Youth-led Mobile Nutrition Festival,” he is working to reshape food habits, hygiene practices, and nutrition awareness in communities where misconceptions, malnutrition, and unhealthy food choices are still deeply rooted.

Through PushtiUtsab, Montaher has mobilized young people as changemakers. He led the selection and training of 20 Youth Nutrition Ambassadors, set up BMI and nutrition checkup stalls, and organized school and community nutrition campaigns that bring learning beyond classrooms into everyday life. To make nutrition education engaging and relatable, his team designed interactive, behavior-focused games and even created a nutrition awareness Jari and Puthi song, using culture as a powerful tool for change.

From promoting healthy tiffin choices, balanced plates, and hygiene practices for adolescents, to hands-on awareness on urban gardening and kitchen composting, Montaher’s work connects nutrition, sustainability, and youth leadership in practical ways.

Driven by the belief that young people can lead the way to healthier futures, Montaher envisions communities that are nutritious, sustainable, and inclusive for all. With the support of SUN Youth Network Bangladesh and GAIN, his initiative is turning youth energy into real, community level impact, one festival, one conversation, and one healthy choice at a time.

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Scaling Up Nutrition Movement

20/04/2026

Meet Marjana!

Marjana Maria is a young innovator and social researcher who is quietly transforming how communities talk about health, dignity, and nutrition. Working at the intersection of gender, health, and community development, she is challenging long-held silences and building spaces where women and girls can finally access the knowledge they deserve.

She leads Nirbhoya, a bilingual women’s health initiative that blends digital innovation with grassroots action. Through thoughtfully designed awareness sessions on menstrual health, nutrition, SRHR, and women’s rights, Marjana has reached tea worker women, adolescent girls, and families who have long been excluded from health education. So far, more than 1,000 women and men have been engaged in breaking taboos and building menstrual awareness within their communities.

Taking this work even further, Marjana launched “Mashik Pushti”, the food and health wing of Nirbhoya. Focused on nutrition during menstruation, the initiative promotes affordable, nutrient-dense meal choices for women and adolescent girls in the Kantihati Tea Estate community. Through school sessions, courtyard meetings, educational leaflets, and the introduction of low-cost local foods and micro-gardens, Mashik Pushti is nurturing healthier bodies while empowering youth to lead sustainable, community-driven nutrition solutions.

As a sociology student, Marjana brings a deep understanding of gender, inequality, and social structures into everything she does. Known for her ability to inspire young audiences, her ideas and innovations have gained recognition on global platforms. She is currently developing a research paper on sanitation and zero hunger in flood-affected regions of Bangladesh, with a long-term vision to take this work beyond borders.

Marjana’s journey reminds us that when courage meets compassion, even the most hidden issues can become pathways to dignity, health, and lasting change.

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Scaling Up Nutrition Movement

20/04/2026

Meet Rabbi!

Every morning in Belkuchi, Rabby walks past fields that once struggled to breathe. What began with a handful of earthworms and a quiet belief in nature’s power has grown into a youth-led movement, reviving soil health and restoring hope in communities.

After completing the Food Systems Youth Leadership Training by GAIN and SUN Youth Network Bangladesh, Rabby launched Turning the Soil Around, a collective action bringing together 13 passionate youth volunteers and more than 80 farmers, including 15 women. Through organic composting, they began restoring soil health. With every compost pit, the land slowly healed, farmers regained their confidence, and communities reconnected with the very earth that sustains them.

Rabby’s impact did not stop in the fields. Through the SafeBite Schools initiative, he took this mission into classrooms, helping children understand that safe food, good nutrition, and healthy lives all begin beneath their feet. Across Sirajganj, more than 600 students learned how soil health is directly linked to food safety, hygiene, and the food they consume every day.

By combining workshops, storytelling, and youth leadership, Rabby has inspired over 300 young people across the country to take action for sustainable food systems. His journey is a powerful reminder of what is possible when farmers, youth, and schools move forward together, hand in hand, toward a future where everyone has access to safe, nutritious, and sustainable food.

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Scaling Up Nutrition Movement

13/04/2026

বাংলা নববর্ষের (পহেলা বৈশাখ) ১৪৩৩ এর শুভেচ্ছা !

SUN Youth Network Bangladesh

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