Young people represent over 65% of The Gambia’s population with a majority of them marginalised politically, socially and economically due to their limited representation in leadership and decision making processes. According to the Conflict and Development Analysis youth are identified as major drivers of conflict due to their low levels of participation and inclusion in governance, decision making and civic engagement. This makes their demography particularly vulnerable to conflict and its related impact on the population.
Thus, there is a need to invest in their demography and ensure their active participation to capture their voices and contributions in development endeavours. These investments are in line with the UN Youth Strategy and the African Union Roadmap on Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in Youth which highlights Rights, Governance and Youth empowerment as one of its four (4) critical pillars.
To support this agenda to ensure Gambian youth are empowered to realise their maximum potential, the UN Secretary General’s Peacebuilding Fund is supporting a 2 Million Dollar project on “Young women and men as stakeholders in ensuring peaceful democratic processes and advocates for the prevention of violence and hate speech” to be implemented by a consortium of UN agencies comprising UNFPA, UNDP and UNESCO in partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Civil Society Organisations.
Through this project also called the Youth Programming project, young men and women of The Gambia will lead action and shape the narrative on issues affecting them including in peacebuilding, governance processes and building and sustaining social cohesion using traditional and new media platforms.
Speaking at the virtual launch of the project on 23 March 2021, the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Bakary Y. Badjie recognised UNFPA in particular and the entire UN system in general for the strong support and commitment towards ensuring young people are not left behind. The Youth Minister highlighted that UNFPA is a worthy partner to the government and people of The Gambia as demonstrated in the agency’s continued collaboration with his Ministry and other Government and Civil Society partners to enhance youth leadership and participation at both national and community levels.
“The Ministry of Youth and Sports has a vision for an empowered youth populace that is critical in harnessing the demographic dividend in line with the AU Roadmap and as set out in our National Development Plan.” – Hon. Bakary Badjie, Minister of Youth and Sports
According to the UNFPA Country Representative Mr. Kunle Adeniyi, the project will support the review of statutory legal instruments such as the National Youth Council Act, Strategic Plans and policy documents related to youth in order to adequately reflect young people’s engagement in governance and leadership and also to enhance their involvement in violence prevention, peace promotion and social cohesion building. This he said is timely as The Gambia prepares for its 2021 electoral cycle.
“We must all work together to ensure that young men and women of this country are engaged positively in governance and leadership and enhance their participation in violence prevention and hate speech. This will promote peace and inclusiveness in national development efforts.” – Mr. Kunle Adeniyi, UNFPA The Gambia Country Representative
Mr Adeniyi called on the project implementing partners to work assiduously in ensuring that the impact of their interventions has a rippling effect and addresses the objectives for which the project was set out to achieve.
The virtual project launch also entailed the inauguration of the Project Steering Committee which will be chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports and co-chaired by the UNFPA Representative in The Gambia to provide overall guidance and direction for the project implementation.
Media contact:
Haddy Jonga - Programme Analyst Communications, UNFPA The Gambia jonga@unfpa.org
