Human-social values, morality and altruism of every human being are prerequisites for social well-being and prosperity. It is desirable that every member of the society, who works for his own progress, will extends the necessary help to others from his own position, their behavior should be gentle and disciplined. But currently, the degradation of human-social values and ethics and the dominance of selfishness are being observed all over the world including Bangladesh. In this context, QK Ahmad Foundation has undertaken this program to motivate the people of the country, especially the youth, in human-social values, ethics and altruism. An important task of this program is to work towards preventing these tendencies from forming among teenagers and young adults. At the same time, to encourage everyone to follow the path of humane-social values, ethics and altruism.

Initially, this program will be conducted in 50 Upazilas across the country. QK Ahmed Foundation has completed this activity in 10 Upazilas with the financial support of Disaster Management Social Responsibility Fund of Bangladesh Bank. The program has been initiated among boys and girls studying in schools and colleges. This program has already been completed in 10 Upazilas with the cooperation of various reputed NGOs of the country. The Upazilas are Mirzapur of Tangail, Kapasia of Gazipur, Rajnagar of Moulvibazar, Mirsarai of Chittagong, Sithakundu and Satkania, Jibannagar of Chuadanga, Mohanpur of Rajshahi, Sadar upazila of Chapainawabganj and Singair of Manikganj.

According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), about 1.41% (2011) of the population in Bangladesh have disabilities and among them a significant portion belongs to age group 16-35 years. Young people with disabilities have been involved in different livelihood activities primarily in agriculture, small business, tailoring and so on in different parts of Bangladesh, often on their own initiative as they are often neglected.

QK Ahmad Foundation wants to create an altruistic society where all are empowered to live with dignity. Impactful change starts from the youth and we want to support young entrepreneurs with financial and non-financial services for their improved livelihood and sustained progress of the nation.

Economic disparity widened during the pandemic and, in January 2021, QKAF signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support Disabled Rehabilitation and Research Association (DRRA) in ‘Promoting Young Entrepreneurs with Disabilities’. Through this program, young entrepreneurs with disabilities will be provided with financial assistance and training to create a sustainable livelihood.

This MoU is the beginning of QKAF’s journey for empowering people with disabilities and for going one step closer to the vision of building an equal and altruistic nation. Initially, this program will be piloted with three (03) young entrepreneurs and scaled up to incorporate entrepreneurs across Bangladesh starting in Rajnagar upazila of Moulvibazar district.

The Foundation in cooperation with Mr. Qazi Atiq Ahmad has established a school named Sohifa Khatun Biddaloy, with the objective of providing modern education to the disadvantaged children. Co-curricular activities are being included. Purchase 13.31 Katha land at a cost of BDT 13.0 lac has been completed for establishing the School at Panchgaon, Rajnagar Upazila in Moulvibazar district.

The Foundation will launch a programme titled Securing the future of children with disabilities. The purpose of this programme will be to rehabilitate disabled children economically and socially. Children of up to 10 years of age will be included in this programme.

Besides, the Foundation will provide two-year scholarships to five talented, poor students of Moulana Mufazzal Hussain Mohila Degree College at Rajnagar upazila in Moulvibazar district every year. Each of them will receive BDT 15000 annually. The college authority will select the students in accordance with the criteria determined by the QK Ahmad Foundation.

The Foundation will recognizes two young, bright and promising economists and other professionals every year. An awardee receives a certificate, a crest and amount of money.

Two young professionals will be awarded every year for their committed activities in the field of social work. QK Ahmad Foundation in 2018 conferred the award to two young professionals – one male and one female. Each awardee received BDT 50,000, a crest, an uttariya and a certificate. A five-member Selection Committee was formed for determining the selection criteria, evaluating applications and selecting the awardees. This year over 300 applications were received.

Besides, one journalist based in Moulvibazar district will be awarded every year for their reporting on the problems and prospects of disadvantaged people. The awardee will receive an amount of BDT 25,000 along with a crest and a certificate.

In the hard-to-reach areas of Bangladesh, access to healthcare facilities is not easy. Even medicine stores (pharmacies) are not available in remote areas. Hence, People of these areas have to travel long distances to buy essential medicines, which is costly in terms of transportation and time spent. As a result, many of them refrain from going to buy medicines even when they get prescriptions from doctors.

The Bangladeshi youth are getting disconnected from our traditional values, heritage and cultural practices due to lack of systemic information. As we progress as a nation, we need to be cautious about remaining rooted to our cultural and traditional value system. QK Ahmad launched a TV show focusing on teaching and reinforcing the principles and values of our culture and heritage. The show was hosted by the QKAF Chairman and visionary, Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad. ‘Dada O Nati-Natnir Alapon’ was aired weekly in one of the leading national television channel and participated by children of Class I-V. The show was designed to better equip the future leaders of the nation to face the challenges of tomorrow and steer the nation to further progress with pride and dignity.

Children in Bangladesh are drifting away from books. Instead of living in a knowledge-based environment, they are growing up with internet-based lifestyle, using Facebook and YouTube. This is particularly so in urban areas, but as internet coverage is fast expanding around rural Bangladesh, rural children are also following the same pathway. Such reluctance to reading books and addiction to internet detract children from acquiring human and social values and make them socially isolated and, not infrequently, vulnerable to extremist ideas. The Zaheda and QK Ahmad Library, named after the QKAF Chairman and his wife, is currently being set up at its headquarters in Dhaka with an aim to increase reading habit among people, especially the children, by introducing them to quality and appropriate knowledge materials including books and audiovisuals.