Sudipto Debnath

Sudipto (17) grew up in Satkhira, a flood-prone coastal district in Bangladesh, where he watched families pull daughters out of school and marry them off young after climate stress wiped out their income. This showed him how deeply connected climate vulnerability, poverty, and children’s rights really are.

Sudipto has spent years working directly with communities in Satkhira. He has personally intervened to prevent more than 100 forced child marriages and convinced over 50 families to cancel marriage plans through counseling. He has run over 100 school campaigns on child rights and safety, reaching more than 10,000 students, plus workshops across multiple districts. Through Shoishober Canvas, he brought education and art to underprivileged children, while his social enterprise Lekhoni sells eco-friendly pens to fund schooling for marginalized communities. He also helped train 45 women economically, developed an AI weather forecasting tool protecting over 1,000 coastal residents, and used traditional theatre to teach child rights in culturally familiar ways.

The results are striking: over 100 girls now stay in school instead of being married off, and Sudipto’s digital advocacy has reached more than 100,000 people—proving that grassroots action and sustained engagement can transform vulnerable communities.