Shaikh Rifad Mahmud of Natore has won the Global Youth Leadership Award at the two-day World Youth Conference in Kathmandu organised by Global Youth Leadership Award the Global Youth Parliament in collaboration with the government of Nepal and the International Diplomatic Organization, says a press release.
Vice President of Nepal Nanda Bahadur Pun handed over the award on Friday.
Youth representatives and diplomats from 62 countries participated in the World Youth Conference held at the National Assembly Hall of Nepal.
Ambassadors of different countries to Nepal, UN and SAARC officials were present at the youth conference.
Shaikh Rifad Mahmud is studying in the computer department at Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute. In 2016, while studying in class seven, he got himself involved in volunteer work. His service work is increasing day by day.
At present Rifad is distributing educational materials among the underprivileged children and urging them for education as well as making their parents aware. Besides taking necessary steps to stop child labour, he also explained to the parents about the evils of child labour.
Rifad distributes clothes and food items to disadvantaged children every Eid. He plants trees to protect the environment and give tree saplings as gifts to pedestrians. He planted trees in Natore Sadar, Singra, Naldanga, Gurudaspur upazilas and gifted tree saplings to pedestrians.
Apart from this, he has carried out public awareness against drugs, child marriage, eve-teasing and dowry. If any member of society is found to be a victim of child marriage, he is taking necessary steps by informing the local people's representatives and the administration.
The name of Rifad's voluntary organisation is Natore Lal Sabuj Unnayan Sangha.
Rifad explains the dangers of coronavirus to the day labourers of the city, starting with the members of the branch in remote areas. He explained to them how to stay safe from coronavirus. Rifad and his organisation distributed masks along with awareness leaflets among working people, working class, poor and rural people.
At the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic, he distributed rice, pulses, potatoes, soap etc. among the rickshaw and van drivers of Natore town. When the flood situation in Singra upazila of Natore reached a critical level in July 2020, the people of the flood-hit areas faced huge losses. Rifad provided 10 days food aid to 100 families in Anandnagar and Krishnanagar villages of Chamari union of Singra upazila.
Rifad took the initiative to save his tiffin and hand money to buy books, clothes and food for the poor children. At present this activity is being conducted on the initiative of their organisation. Every year, they are organising awareness meetings and swearing-in lessons at various schools and colleges across the country to stop the distribution of tree saplings, drug-child marriage-eve-teasing.
Shaikh Rifad Mahmud, who was overjoyed to receive the award, said, "This honour and recognition will serve as an inspiration for my social and voluntary work. We will work to ensure child rights and stop child labour in the future. It will not be possible to prevent child labour only through word of mouth and awareness message. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to make arrangements for the employment of unemployed parents first. Only then can child labour be stopped. I have taken the initiative to establish a charity called 'Shaikh Rakibul Islam Welfare Foundation' to carry out social work on a wider scale.”
Rifad Mahmud wants to play a role in social activities in implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
