ROJALNU,
a French acronym for Pan African Youth Leadership Network, recently organised a
three-day house training for about 100 young people including students and
teachers at Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC).
The
forum was to sensitise the participants on family planning, advocacy, HIV and
AIDS, and female genital mutilation as well as the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDG) in preparation for the upcoming national drama competition slated
for 4 March 2017.
President
of ROJALNU Gambia, Tenneng Gitteh, said the continental network was established
in 1994 with the support of UNAIDs and UNFPA at the International Conference on
Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, Egypt.
The
chapter of the network in The Gambia was established in 2016.
The
network seeks to eradicate poverty, gender equity, promote sexual and
reproductive health and the involvement of young people on family planning
issues.
Alagie
Jarju, programme officer of Nation Youth Council, commended ROJALNU Gambia for
the initiative.
Amadou
Njie, senior programme officer of the Gambia Family planning Association, said
at the GFPA, the first thing they advice young people is to abstain from sex.
“But
when there is no choice, we give them contraceptive pills and condoms to
protect them from unwanted pregnancies and complications,” he said. “The purpose of family planning is for marriage
couples to plan their families in an appropriate manner.”
Haddy
Dumbuya, youth coordinator of KMC who also represented KMC Mayor, said the
council is always happy to contribute to youth development initiative and its
doors are always opened to help young people.
