The CSEM Advisory Group

SM Shaikat is a policy analyst, advocate, and civic leader with 16+ years advancing youth empowerment and rights-based healthcare in Bangladesh and beyond. As Executive Director of SERAC-Bangladesh, he leads advocacy on SRHR, adolescent health, mental wellbeing, GBV prevention, and urban health, focusing on climate-vulnerable and urban-poor communities. A recognized policy influencer, he has contributed to the National Health Policy 2011, National Population Policy 2025, Family Planning Strategy 2025–2030, and Adolescent Health Strategy 2017–2030, aligning evidence, budgets, and services for those most at risk. His hallmark is youth-led budget advocacy and institutionalized civic engagement through Urban Youth Councils and coalitions. He founded the Bangladesh Youth Health Action Network and hosted the country’s first National Youth Summit on UHC in 2016.

Internationally, Shaikat is a Global South voice across UN and civil-society mechanisms. He serves on the WHO Civil Society Commission and WHO SEARO Youth Council; is a CSO Advocacy Accelerator Fellow with the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI); and sits on Share-Net Bangladesh’s Steering Committee. As a UN Women 30 for 2030 Fellow, UHC2030 contributor, and Goldin Global Fellow 2025, he connects gender equality, universal health coverage, peacebuilding, and community resilience.

His leadership has earned honors including Bayer Scholar, “120 Under 40” (Gates Institute), Swedish Institute Leader Lab Fellow, and 2022 ICFP Trailblazer. Across these roles, he forges partnerships with government, cities, UN agencies, and academia to embed rights-based healthcare, civic participation, and climate-resilient urban governance in policy and practice.