Youth leaders at a Dhaka national dialogue called for embedding nutrition in Bangladesh’s climate action, budgets and finance, urging community-led, gender-responsive policies to build resilience amid escalating climate shocks nationwide.
Poverty, inequality and climate-induced disasters are intensifying Bangladesh’s nutrition crisis, particularly among marginalised communities. Speakers at a national dialogue in Dhaka on Monday urged policymakers to integrate nutrition systematically into national budgets, climate finance pipelines, adaptation planning and agricultural transformation efforts to strengthen long-term resilience. They warned that community-level realities shaped by climate shocks are still not adequately reflected in national policy processes.
The National Nutrition Dialogue, titled From Community to Policy: Youth Leaders for Nutrition Bangladesh, was held at SHALA Neighbourhood Art Space. The event was organised by the Youth Leaders for Nutrition programme with support from the Civil Society Alliance for Scaling Up Nutrition (CSA SUN) Bangladesh, the Civil Society Network of the SUN Movement, Save the Children Bangladesh and YouthNet Global. Representatives from UN agencies, civil society organisations, academia, the private sector, youth groups and development partners attended.
The dialogue highlighted the growing leadership role of youth within the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement and underscored the need for coordinated, gender-responsive and community-driven approaches. Speakers emphasised that integrating lived experiences from climate-vulnerable communities into national decision-making is essential for building a more equitable, climate-resilient and nutrition-secure Bangladesh.
The event included a keynote address on translating local findings into national solutions, a youth panel representing Kurigram, Khulna, Satkhira, Barishal and Dhaka and a Policy Lab session designed to convert community insights into concrete policy priorities.
Md Taufiqul Islam, Secretary of CSA SUN Bangladesh, delivered the opening remarks, stressing the importance of aligning national nutrition initiatives with grassroots realities to ensure inclusive and sustainable outcomes.
Sohanur Rahman, National Youth Coordinator of CSA SUN Bangladesh and Executive Coordinator of YouthNet Global, presented findings from youth-led community consultations conducted earlier this year in Satkhira, Khulna, Barishal and Kurigram. More than 270 people from climate-vulnerable and marginalised communities participated, including Manta fisherfolk, Harijan families, indigenous Munda women, tiger widows, urban slum residents and flood-affected farmers.
“What we are seeing across these communities is that climate shocks are not only destroying livelihoods, they are directly shaping what people can eat, how often they eat and who eats last,” Sohanur Rahman said. “If national policies are serious about nutrition, they must start from these realities and ensure youth and community voices inform planning, financing and implementation.”
Climate shocks and inequality worsen the nutrition crisis
A youth panel moderated by young climate activist Aruba Faruque featured Hafizur Rahman from Shyamnagar in Satkhira, Md Rakibul Islam Tanim from Kurigram, Farhana Yasmin from Khulna and Nusrat Jahan Bristi from Barishal. Panelists shared firsthand accounts of rising food prices, reduced access to protein, unsafe drinking water, sanitation challenges and shrinking livelihood opportunities linked to climate change.
Youth facilitators documented how flooding, salinity intrusion, river erosion and cyclones are worsening nutrition outcomes, particularly for women and children living in coastal areas, chars and urban informal settlements.
“Climate shocks will continue to disrupt harvests and incomes. This is our reality,” said Hafizur Rahman. “But empowering communities to innovate and adapt is essential to minimising the damage these shocks can cause. Governance and oversight must remain aligned with national priorities so that interventions create long-term impact.”
“These discussions show that nutrition cannot be separated from climate adaptation. Young people are bringing grounded evidence from communities that must inform national planning,” said Farhana Yasmin. She highlighted how the shutdown of jute mills in Khulna has contributed to income loss and worsened malnutrition among workers’ families.
Through open dialogue and shared experiences, participants highlighted pressing nutrition challenges faced by communities affected by climate change and inequality while proposing practical, locally grounded solutions. Evidence-based recommendations were shared with a clear call for the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement and nutrition stakeholders to advocate for youth-informed priorities in national nutrition policy formulation.
Nutrition and food security are recognised in major policy frameworks such as the National Adaptation Plan, the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, the Climate Prosperity Plan and the Nationally Determined Contributions. Yet lived experiences from climate-vulnerable regions remain largely disconnected from policy design and financing decisions.
Embedding nutrition into climate finance
Speakers urged policymakers to integrate nutrition more systematically through nutrition tagging in the national budget, climate finance pipelines, adaptation planning and agricultural transformation efforts, warning that failure to do so would deepen inequality and undermine Bangladesh’s long-term resilience.
Other speakers in the concluding panel included Dr AFM Iqbal Kabir (SUN Academia), nutrition expert Dr Mohsin Ali, CSA SUN adviser Saiqa Siraj, Faria Shabnom (WHO), CSA SUN co-chair Hafijul Islam, Kazi Md Obaydul Hoq (SUN Secretariat) and Asfia Azim (Nutrition International).
“Health and nutrition financing must be treated as an investment, not a cost,” said AKM Sohel, additional secretary and head of the UN Wing at the Economic Relations Division under the Ministry of Finance. “If climate finance is to deliver real resilience, nutrition must be embedded within climate and development financing frameworks so that resources reach the most vulnerable communities.”
