YMCA equips youth with employable skills and policies

A three-day national capacity building workshop for youth organised by the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) recently concluded at the Paradise Suites Hotel in Kololi.

The event, funded by Big Lottery Fund (BLF), brought together participants from the National Assembly, Greater Banjul Area, West Coast Region, and North, Central and Upper River Regions to target right-based approach to youth employment and economic justice.

The forum dealt with issues relating to young people, such as youth employment challenges, national effects of child labour, constitutional reforms on youth employment and economic justice, and labour laws of The Gambia.

In his remarks at the closing ceremony, Joseph Peacock of the YMCA said the workshop aimed at setting a working environment conducive for young people.

He revealed that the BLF project through the YMCA has trained 1,617 young people on different skills in more than 100 communities.

He urged the participants to make best use of the knowledge gained at the workshop in their institutions and communities.

Sam B. Thorpe, national secretary general of the YMCA, commended the participants for “a job well done”.

“You are all well equipped and we expect you to use the opportunity to replicate the knowledge in your communities and to your colleagues, who were unfortunate to attend the training,” he said.

Mr Thorpe also challenged the participants to be fully engaged to contribute to nation-building. “It is high time that youths engaged themselves in the thinking process,” he added.