Once a husband left his wife for an incident, that she is carrying a female baby in her womb she had no choice with. This barbaric action shocked Fayez Belal, a college student in the city of Barisal. He stood beside that devastated lady by arranging financial, social and psychological support.
Fayez along with his companions-initiated Barisal Youth Society (BYS) in 2014 with an aim to stop violence against women. Spreading the light of education amongst women is one of their prime goals. Scholarship provided by this organization is now helping 14 SSC and 7 HSC students. Currently, Barisal Youth Society is actively working in 6 districts in Barisal. Till now they have protected 109 victim women. In addition to supporting the victims of violence, BYS now provides employment generating skill training for young women. It has helped 19 young women to become employed.
Currently, BYS has more than 10,000 members and 800 volunteers. Their huge network is the key to stopping child marriage and providing security to women who have been victim of violence. They have established 24 centers to provide legal aid service to women. They stopped 257 early marriages. They had to overcome a number of obstacles to earn this success.
BYS won the Joy Bangla Youth Award in 2017 in the community development category for their role in preventing violence against women and ensuring education and employment opportunity for women. Now, it is one of the largest youth-based organizations in the southern part of Bangladesh. They have taken some innovative programs to bring a large number of youths under a canopy and work for the development of the youth community as a whole. BYS successfully organized ‘Youth Fest 2017’ to celebrate and showcase the outstanding achievement of youth activists and entrepreneurs.
