Since the July Movement 2024, Bangladesh has been going through a critical democratic transition. The youth-led uprising has marked not just a movement against inequality, it has also witnessed a resurgence of youth activism, brought challenges to media freedom and shifts in political engagement. In this context, WAVE Foundation has initiated the “Loud and Clear: Empowering Youth Voices 2.0” project, supported by DW Akademie (Deutsche Welle) and co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project aims to safeguard Freedom of Expression (FoE) and equip young people with Media and Information Literacy (MIL) skills. The project’s overall objective is to enable Civil Society to contribute to inclusive and diverse policy-making processes and strengthen democracy in Bangladesh as actors of good governance and development in their own rights.
As part of the initiatives, the project hosted its 1st National Roundtable Dialogue in Dhaka, titled “National Election and Referendum 2026: Youth Expectation to Uphold Freedom of Expression and Good Governance” on January 28, 2026. On the eve of the 13th National Election and Referendum 2026, the thoughts and expectations of the youth regarding the country’s democratic future were more prominent than ever before. Considering this context, the dialogue brought together youth representatives from university clubs and CSOs, including minorities and marginalised communities, media experts, national and regional level journalists and policy influencers. Jules Seitz, Program Officer, Governance, Civil Society, Human Rights, Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh and Mohsin Ali, Founder and Executive Director of WAVE Foundation, attended the roundtable alongside representatives from DW Akademie and WAVE.
In the roundtable, youth articulated a policy proposal addressing the gap between grassroots demands and high-level policymaking. In the roundtable, the youth discussed freedom of expression, digital safety, online harassment and inclusive elections. The youth demands include Democratic Education in Textbooks, Safe Civic Surveillance, Ensuring Inclusive Representation in National Elections, Creating Opportunities for Youth Candidacy in National and Local Government Elections, Decentralisation of Power and Term Limits for the Prime Minister, Elimination of Unemployment and Education Reform and Establishing a State-run Fact-checking System, etc. After the event, a policy brief was widely shared to inform the elected government and policymakers.
Building on this momentum, the project is now strengthening stakeholder networks for upcoming digital literacy boot camps, idea labs and roundtable dialogues in the Dhaka, Khulna, Barishal, Rajshahi, Chattogram and Sylhet regions.
By 2028, the “Loud and Clear 2.0” project is expected to create an inclusive platform to ensure youth voices are heard by policymakers and translated into actions.
