By Lamarana S. Jallow
The 2nd National Youth ‘Connekt’ Gambia held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara Conference Center on the 16th September 2022. It is an annual event that brings together relevant government ministries and stakeholders to discuss and strategies on how to achieve Youth Connekt Gambia goals of creating job opportunities and sustainable job environments in emerging industries.
This year’s theme which focuses on Resilient youth, Resilient Gambia attracts more than 200 young participants from all regions of the country.
The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Mr. Ousman A. Bah has said that Youth Empowerment is a mantra on paper, and this has become a cliché, but for Barrow led government, Youth Empowerment is not only a mere rhetoric on paper but a practice. He added that government is aware of the realities on the ground, and the need to create more job opportunities for the young people in the country.
He further noted that the government is invested in youth affairs and working in making sure that the youths gain meaningful employment in the country, as youths is the backbone of any nation.
Honorable Bah stated that the National Development Plan (NDP) seeks to address the affairs of the youth in the country and that the Ministry of Youth and Sports is doing a lot in the areas of sports.
Honourable Bakary Y. Badjie, Minister of Youth and Sports said youth category of the population has demonstrated strong desire and capacity to learn and utilize that knowledge to excel individually and as a community.
“I want to assure you that the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and by extension the government recognizes the potentials of young people, both as a human resource by virtue of the youth dominancy among our population, and as skillful individuals with a lot of ideas and skill sets, which if harnessed, can hugely contribute towards the country’s socio-economic transformation drive,’’ he said.
He affirmed that without the right tools, policy framework and resources needed, his ministry will continue to engage youth through the National Youth Council and other satellite institutions with a view to continuously create that linkage with government, to listen and together, map out the right policy environment to build the resource base needed to move ahead.
