It is very encouraging to see young people reaffirming their commitment to fighting crime in the country.
At the just-concluded national youth crime prevention conference, young people made strong declarations in support of the national efforts to ensure a crime-free Gambia.
At the end of the conference, participants asserted strongly that they, the young people of this country, are equally concerned about the increasing crime rate in The Gambia.
They denounced in the strongest terms the use of and trafficking in drugs, rape, murder, armed robbery, terrorism, cyber crime and so on.
They called for more resources be allocated to the community policing unit of the Gambia Police Force, more opportunities for young people, a more cordial media-police relationship in dealing with crime, and to intensify youth community outreach programmes.
These showed that the young people of this country are very much committed to the maintenance of peace and stability in this country.
We, therefore, salute the participants/delegates to the conference, organizers, resource persons and sponsors of the conference for a fitting event.
We urge these great young people to continue working as ambassadors of peace in their respective youth groups and communities.
Fighting against crime in society in this complex world goes beyond the work of the police, thus the need for all Gambians and non–Gambians alike to partake in crime prevention initiatives.
The police as highlighted in the conference must work closely with the media to inform and educate the public on crimes and crime-related matters in the society, as the media will complement their efforts.
Since the media is a major source of information on crime and safety for a significant number of people around the world, we encourage the Gambian media to continue reporting on crime prevention issues.
We encourage the organizers to organize forums of this nature regularly, with the support and involvement of the National Youth Council which is here for the betterment of the young people.
