Rijve Arefin

Spearheading operations in Bangladesh, developing digital platforms with AI and blockchain. Engaging government departments locally and internationally. Creating a conversational AI for Gender Equality and Climate Change. Overseeing eVLMIS deployment in Bangladesh. Coordinating with UNICEF and Bangladesh's Ministry of Health for eVLMIS. Using AI and blockchain for project efficiency and security.

It is my absolute pleasure and honor to be assigned as the Commonwealth Youth Forum International Taskforce's Plenary Lead by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Government of Rwanda. As Taskforce members we will be supporting the planning and delivery of the Commonwealth Youth Forum, including the design of the program/agenda, policy recommendation and action plans, communications, and logistical arrangements, and the overall planning and execution of the CYF. On the eve of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF) and Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC) General Assembly (GA) are held biennially. The Commonwealth Youth Forum brings together young leaders from around the Commonwealth to share ideas and cultures, develop skills and networks, and highlight the most pressing concerns and opportunities confronting today's youth. From June 19 to 21, 2022, the CYF will be hosted in Kigali, Rwanda. Delivering such a forum is indeed a huge responsibility, but I will give my best to fulfill the expectations of the role bestowed on me. Hope to see you in Rwanda! 🇷🇼

Thrilled to share that I got appointed for the role - Target Gender Equality Advisor at the United Nations Global Compact (Global Team, the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world. What started as a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, now works with 13,331 companies across 161 countries. As a long-term SDG champion and a strong believer of gender equality and corporate sustainability, I could not see a better fit for me. I am excited to begin this new chapter with my dynamic colleagues and gain new skills, hands-on work experience with a global team, and a better understanding of the UN system. Grateful and blessed!

I’m one of the 9 members selected for The Youth Co-Design Team. The Youth Co-Design Team, in partnership with CIVICUS Youth, is responsible for designing the Youth Action Lab. It is comprised of nine youth activists from the Global South who started working together in August 2019 following a design thinking methodology and testing different ways of working between individual activists and established international civil society organisations.

In 2019, I was appointed as one of the nine young grassroots activists, representing the Asia Pacific region, who worked in partnership with CIVICUS as the co-design team that created the Youth Action Lab. The Youth Action Lab is a one-year co-creation lab for grassroots youth activists based in the global south which works to support their movements to become more resilient and sustainable in their pursuit of a more equitable world. The Lab is an innovative, safe, active, inclusive, collective, representative, and connected space, online and physical for grassroots activists, which thoughtfully considers diverse contexts and ecosystems to better resource them to flourish with their communities. I am pleased to see how far the programme has come and continue to support the impactful movements of grassroots activists. The Youth Action Lab is supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). This initiative is part of CIVICUS Youth and Civil Society Resourcing workstreams to build a more resilient, effective, safe, and diverse civil society in the 21st Century.