The ECOWAS sub-regional capacity building workshop on the implementation of the youth policy and sharing of experiences on youth development and empowerment hosted by The Gambia is indeed a move in the right direction.
Being the cream of any nation, the youth and their plight should be given the needed attention, and addressed to get them to contribute their quota towards nation-building.
The meeting will avail the youth the opportunity to understanding and internalizing the ECOWAS Youth Policy and Strategic Plan of Action, as well as exchanging best practices on youth development.
Youth of ECOWAS member states should also make sure the issues of unemployment affecting the youth in their various countries are adequately captured in the policies in order to ease the unemployment rate among the youth of the continent.
Some of the countries who have not done well with their youth policies should also learn from the experiences of The Gambia,
ECOWAS should take a firm stance to make sure the youth policy developed by member states are implemented as expected.
It is one thing to develop a policy and another to implement it.
Now, it is incumbent upon delegates of the sub-regional capacity-building workshop to develop realistic policies, which at the end of the day will definitely address the plight of the youth of the sub-region.
Youth development should be the business of everybody because, if they are productively engaged, it will reduce the unemployment rate and enable them to avoid certain vices.
