The convergence, funded by the Peace Building Fund through the UNDP, brought together relevant government ministries and stakeholders with the desire to review, discuss and strategize on how to achieve Youth Connekt Gambia goals which are aligned to the Africa Youth Connekt goals among others.
Speaking at the forum, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Bakary Y. Badjie, said: “The forum is used as a platform to discuss issues confronting young people within the country, discuss business ideas, models and chart out a way to ensure greater support to the ideas of youths in business, in digitalization, environment and other social impact intervention programs.”
The youth category of the country's population, Minister Badjie added, has demonstrated strong desire and capacity to learn and utilise that knowledge to excel individually and as a community.
“The ministry of Youth and Sports and by extension the government recognizes the potential of young people, both as a human resource and as skilful individuals with a lot of ideas and skill among others. With little support, they can contribute immensely towards the country's socio-economic transformation drive,” he said, while acknowledging that the above mentioned can’t be attained without having the right tools, policy framework and the much needed resources.
Minister Badjie further added: “My ministry has several opportunities and will work to create more by implementing our 2019-2028 National Youth Policy, together with the newly formulated strategic plan.”
“These two documents would provide renewed commitment for the government to building skills and capacity of young people through the ministry's different programs such as the regular and apprenticeship training program of the NYSS, the livelihood skills training of PIA and The Gambia Shonghai Initiative among others.”
He urged the participants to use the summit and discuss ways to create resiliency among the youth, saying, “There are a lot of issues in the world and African continent that have a direct or indirect bearing on us in The Gambia.”
Ousman Bah, the Minister of Technology and Digital Economic on behalf of President Barrow, said: “For many, youth empowerment is a mantra on paper but for the government, youth empowerment is not only a mere rhetoric on paper but in practice.”
The government, Minister Bah added, is aware of the realities on the ground and the need to create more job opportunities for the youths.
“We know that the youth are the backbone of any nation. This is the reason why the government is working tirelessly in making sure that the youths gain meaningful employment in the country. Therefore, the establishment of the University of Science and Technology is an indication of the government's commitment to the development of skills for the country's young ones,” he stated, while further claiming that “The University will in the future produce experts in the fields of engineering and other technical skills required for the development of the country.”
Through the Ministry of Higher Education Research Science and Technology (MoHERST), he said, Technical and Vocational Education Training will be rolled out in all the administrative regions of the country with the desire to ensure that youth interested in the acquisition of skills are catered for
