(Commonwealth)__About 100 young leaders from across Bangladesh pledged to promote and uphold the ideals of the Commonwealth Charter following a two-day workshop in Dhaka on 23-24 June 2025. The workshop, held by the Commonwealth Secretariat with support from the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, aimed to create awareness and build understanding among the participants regarding the ideals of the Charter and how these can be localized. The Commonwealth Charter engages democratic values of human rights, freedom of expression, tolerance, and inclusion. Although the values unite all 56 member states, the workshop was organized to enable young Bangladeshis to conceptualize how the values might be understood to address the issues and challenges of their respective societies.
We solicited volunteers from diverse backgrounds such as the media, civil society, academia, and minority groups. The majority were already active in social enterprise, advocacy, and community leadership. The workshop gave them an opportunity to take some time and introspect on how the work that they are presently doing relates to the Commonwealth values and how they can take these principles to the highest possible level. Through interactive sessions, group discussion, and case studies, the participants explored the social and political reality of Bangladesh today and where they are now in relation to the values infused in the Charter. The participants formulated collective action plans that weaved these values into ongoing and upcoming projects.
Among the concrete promises of the young leaders are to energize young voters and first-time voters, respectively, and to keep public spaces open for marginalized voices, especially those of minorities and women. Others vowed to be neutral facilitators in local reconciliation and in pushing for inclusive policymaking to create space for underrepresented voices. For most of the participants, the event was their first personal experience of the Commonwealth Charter. It was not a presentation of the document itself but also a reflection exercise in how they personally and professionally could help forward its values.
The workshop repeatedly reaffirmed the principles of respect, understanding, and tolerance as a cornerstone theme. All of us adopted them as core values in today’s digital and physical lives, especially amidst growing polarization and social tensions. All of us pledged to uphold these values in both our offline and online lives, both in our communication, collaboration, and problem-solving endeavors. The workshop was inaugurated with a keynote address by Bangladesh’s Adviser for Youth and Sports, where he ensured that the Commonwealth Charter becomes a moral compass for young women and men to steer through bewildering national and international challenges. He explained that by a rightful internalization of these values, young leaders are able to become nation-builders and changemakers in building a more resilient and inclusive nation.
Senior officials of the Commonwealth Secretariat also addressed the participants, urging them to take the Charter beyond the workshop and incorporate its values into their daily lives and leadership practices. They informed them that success is not guaranteed, but failure will keep one behind, and that change with substance is a question of will, nerve, and commitment to lead by example.
The workshop also provided a platform for youth organizations to express their vision of activism in the coming days. For example, the campaign to ensure that the right to a healthy and safe environment becomes a constitutional right for Bangladesh is an interface of environmental justice and human rights, an issue close to the Charter’s social justice and sustainable development focus. The participants, at the end of two days, recommitted and practiced skills to advance the values of the Commonwealth within their constituencies. Their commitments reflected both conceptual knowledge of the Charter and a genuine commitment to attaining those values. With Bangladesh still committed to collaboration with the Commonwealth in youth development, a workshop like this is a significant step toward the creation of a next generation of leaders founded upon one set of values and world citizensh
