A three-day
training workshop and national youth camp on governance, peace-building and
cultural dynamism, was Friday held at the President’s Awards Scheme premises in
Bakau.
UNESCO sponsored the workshop, which drew participants from all the regions in the country.
In her statement, Maimuna Sidibeh, senior programme officer at NATCOM, said the activity was part of a project conception that is supported under the UNESCO participation programme 2014-15, which all member states benefit from through their national commission.
The weight and emphasis UNESCO puts is onto youths and youth-related issues; thus it dedicates a special forum for youths as part of the activities of its biennial UNESCO General Conference.
As such, the UNESCO youth programme works to create an enabling environment in which this goal could be achieved by brining youths’ voices to the forefront and encouraging young people to come together to take action, she added.
Youths are key partners in Africa’s development, she continued, adding that with its strategy on African Youth, UNESCO, together with global and regional partners, including youth organizations, seeks to enable young women and men to drive change in their countries and communities.
Ms Sidibeh told participants that at the level of member states, what they do as a National Commission is to promote youth civic engagement and innovation as a way to empower young people to contribute to peace and development in Africa, to help them make successful transitions from school to the workplace, and to prevent violence.
“We understand that young people are a heterogeneous group in constant evolution and that the experience of being young varies enormously across regions and within countries,” she added.
The integration of youth concerns and issues into the policy agendas of all member states in education, the sciences, culture and communication, in order to create spaces and opportunities for empowering young people and giving recognition, visibility and credibility to their contributions is, indeed, prominent within UNESCO.
Fabakary Kalleh, Executive Secretary, Peace Ambassadors The Gambia, told participants that the training activity was important for the youths and The Gambia as a whole.
He advised the participants to make best use of the training course, adding that the government is always concerned about youth issues.
