The young people have spoken!

Participants at the Youth Employment Network (YEN Gambia)  national employment forum have spoken loud and clear.

They say the youths in the country need more employment opportunities.

While others at the event blamed the government for not doing enough to create employment for young people, especially those graduating from our schools annually, others argued that the opportunities are just there but not enough, thus the need for more.

For some youths at the event, the tax system in the country is not promoting small scale businesses and enterprises.

Thus the call for it to be revisited to encourage them to venture into the field.

Some participatnts also argued that the employment opportunities in the country should be decentralized to benefit more youths aross the country.

Sadly, most of the particiopants at the employment forum also did not know the contents of the national youth employment policy, despite public sensitization efforts by the national youth council.

While some were on the defensive, others acknowledged that the youth themselves must work hard for their own good.

While we do not want to take any side, we must empphasise that the problem of youth unemployment is severe, thus the need to seriously address it.

We urge the authorities to listen to the young people’s concerns, and work towards addressing them.

We also challenge the youth to get into skills and vocational training, to become self-employed or stand a better chance of getting employment.

Our commendations go to YEN Gambia and partners such as YMCA The Gambia, Ministry of Trade, Regional Integration and Employment and Ministry of Youth and Sports for fostering this kind of healthy debate.

Providing employment for all youths in the country would be impossible for the governmnet alone to handle, thus the need for the private sector and civil society to complement the efforts of government.