This Lunch Briefing will focus on the Monsoon Revolution in Bangladesh and using the lens of human rights, will analyse the leadership role students are playing to promote democracy and accountability.

Bangladesh, once seen as a ‘development miracle’, had become a corrupt and oppressive dictatorship with no room for dissent. In July this year, the authorities violently attacked peaceful student protestors. Ordinary citizens came out in support of the students, and thousands of people were killed or badly injured by the security forces. The students mobilised the angry public and demanded the government’s resignation. As millions of people marched towards the capital city to oust the Prime Minister, she hastily resigned and fled the country on 5 August. Three days later, at the insistence of the students, Muhammad Yunus, the Noble Peace laureate and microfinance pioneer, was sworn in as head of the interim government to prepare the country for transition to democracy.

The student-led mass uprising overturned fifteen years of authoritarian rule in just a matter of weeks, but the path to democracy will be long and arduous. The discussion will consider the opportunities, risks and challenges for youth leadership to build a more inclusive and just society, based on democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Could the Monsoon Revolution go the way of the Arab Spring? Or will ‘youthquake’ create a new paradigm for reforming post-authoritarian societies?      

Irene Khan is UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression since 1 August 2020 and Distinguished Fellow of the Geneva Graduate Institute and Research Associate, Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy. An internationally recognised advocate for human rights, gender equality and social justice, Ms. Khan was Secretary General of Amnesty International from 2001 - 2009 and Director-General of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) from 2012 - 2019. She was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in 2006 for her work to end violence against women.  

She is a citizen of Bangladesh and witnessed first hand the recent upheaval in her country.

This Lunch Briefing will be moderated by Christine Lutringer, Senior Researcher and Executive Director, Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy