Briefing Meeting with the Director General Held
A briefing and exchange of views session was held on the afternoon of 16 July in the project office conference room, with the aim of informing the newly appointed Director General of the Department of Youth Development, Md. Motahar Hossain, about the overall activities and progress of the EARN Project.
At the briefing session, the Director General was presented with updates on the completion of several key milestones, including the approval of service provider recruitment, installation of solar panels, disbursement of seed financing, distribution of motorcycles and mobile phones, and the development of a Communication Strategy Paper.
The session also highlighted the following key achievements: completion of procurement across 10 packages through open competitive tendering in accordance with World Bank procurement guidelines; installation of solar panel systems at Youth Development Centers across all 64 districts; allocation of over BDT 32 crore to the Department's Seed Financing Wing; distribution of 500 motorcycles and 750 mobile phones to Assistant Youth Development Officers at Youth Development offices across 250 upazilas to further strengthen the Department's loan support activities; and the development of a Communication Strategy Paper to guide targeted outreach and promotional activities for the project.
The session was chaired by EARN Project Director Kazi Mokhlesur Rahman and was attended by project officers, consultants, and officials from various levels — including Directors of various wings of the Department of Youth Development.