Folks,
The following is a new series that I hope people will find interesting.
Have a good day, Gassa.
WOMEN AND YOUTH NEWS
Gambian Youths
INTRODUCTION
July 28th 2002.
The Gambia, one of the smallest countries in West Africa, with a sub-
tropical climate, lies between latitude 13 and 14 degrees North. A narrow
strip of land about 400 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide is
surrounded on three sides by Senegal and by the Atlantic Ocean on the West.
Figures from the 1993 population and housing census, put the country's
total population at 1,038,145, and with a total habitable land area of
10,689 square kilometres, The Gambia has become one of the most densely
populated countries in Africa. It has an average density of 95 persons per
square kilometre of habitable land, with an estimated growth rate of 4.2
per cent per annum, which, if sustained, is capable of doubling every 17
years. This high growth rate is accounted for by a rate of natural increase
of 1.2 per cent and a net immigration rate of 0.6 per cent per annum. The
urban growth rate, which is compounded by rural-urban drifts, stands at a
relatively high level of 12 per cent per annum. The pressure being exerted
by the population on arable land, social services and the environment,
manifests effects of these high growth rates, which collectively culminate
in severe environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources.
The Gambia's population can be described as "young" because of the lower
median ages of 18.4 and 17.0 years respectively for 1983 and 1993 censuses.
According to the 1993 census, 44 per cent of the population were under 15
years, 50.4 per cent under 18 years, 16.2 per cent under 5 years and 3.2
per cent were 65 years and above. All these translate into a high
dependency ratio for the working population. Also, according to the 1996
UNDP Human Development Report, about 60 per cent of the population are
within the age bracket 13-30 years. This suggests at least a 50 per cent
youthful population.
Problem Statement
Young people below the age of 25 years constitute 64 per cent and those
aged 10-24 years constitute 31.1 per cent of the entire Gambian population
(1993 census). The socio-economic climate of the country (low level of
education, low status of women and girl-child, poverty) has left the young
faced with a number of problems such as:
- Lack of basic formal education resulting in high level of unemployment,
particularly for girls.
- Lack of access to credit and micro-finance facilities.
- Lack of training in informal jobs to help create self-employment.
- Sexually Transmitted Infections including H IV/Aids.
- Lack of decision-making rights especially for women and worse still,
young women.
- Pre-marital sexual relations resulting in unwanted pregnancies and unsafe
abortions.
- Attitudinal problems of the young, "Attaya" the vous syndrome and the
assurance of feeding. Dominance of informal sector by foreigners.
It is widely contended that these problems can be attributed to lack of
information, education, parental expectations, appropriate training and
counselling on related issues. Youth development, therefore, has became a
great concern not only for parents but also governments and other agencies
such as the National Youth Council of The Gambia.
The National Youth Council
An important milestone in the quest for youth development and empowerment,
is the putting in place of the necessary legal and institutional
framework/structures through the enactment of the National Youth Council
(NYC) Act by the Gambia National Assembly culminating into the
establishment of a National Youth Council serviced by a secretariat.
The Gambia National Youth Council (NYC) is the gift of the age by
Government to the youth as demanded by young people of this country.
The reasons for the establishment of the NYC among other things include the
need for coordinating, planning, programming, monitoring and evaluating all
youth programmes, projects and activities in the Gambia.
The National Youth Council (NYC) as an independent autonomous body is also
mandated by an act of the National Assembly to advise Government on all
youth matters in The Gambia.
Functions of the NYC
The functions of the National Youth Council are as follows:
- Organise and coordinate youth programmes, policies and provide guidelines
for the orientation of youth organisations with the view to harmonising
various youth operations in The Gambia.
- Conduct research on youth development.
- Monitor the implementation of the National Youth Policy of Government and
decisions of the National Youth Conference.
- Mobilise resources for youth development.
- Work closely with charitable organisations involved in youth related work
or activities.
- Organise youth conferences and festivals.
- Promote networking with other national youth bodies and youth
organisations abroad.
- Plan and implement national youth programmes.
- Maintain a data bank on youth organisations and activities in the country.
- Register national youth organisations.
- Determine the fees for the registration of youth organisations.
- Carry out such other functions that may be desired in furtherance of the
objectives of council.
- Supervise the operations of the Divisional Youth Committees.
NYC Structure
The NYC consists of seven Divisional Chairpersons, a Female Representative,
the Director of Youth and Sports and the Executive Secretary. The Executive
Secretary serves as Secretary to the Council. The council is serviced by a
Secretariat that is headquartered at the Independence Stadium and headed by
an Executive Secretary.
Apart from the National Structure, other structures include the Divisional
Youth Committees, District Youth Committees and Village Youth Committees.
Each Divisional Chairperson heads a Divisional Youth Committee (DYC), which
comprises district/zonal representatives, a female representative, disabled
representative, and representatives of the Commissioner and Area Council.
The young assistants posted to the divisions by the Department for Youth
and Sports are currently serving as temporal Secretaries to DYCs until the
time the NYC Secretariat can afford Secretaries on a payroll.
The District Representatives to the DYCs are the Chairpersons to their
respective District Youth Committee. Each District Committee comprises
representatives of Chairperson of Village Youth Committees.
Such a structure strongly suggests a guaranteed information flow to the
farthest youth in this country if we adequately equips the elements of the
structure.
Benefits - Youth Empowerment
One of the main benefits of the National Youth Council is the empowerment
of Gambian youths. The NYC serves as an advisory body to Government on
youth issues and as such other stakeholders no longer take decisions for
and on behalf of young people decisions but young people themselves are
involved in making decisions that affect them.
Capacity Building
Through training and awareness creation, the capacities of young people are
developed. Through training and advocacy, young people acquire skills on
Leadership, HIV/Aids, Public Speaking, Media Presentation Skills etc.
Exposure through Internship
The National Youth Council can facilitate internship for young people in
institutions and organisations for the personal development of the young
people concerned as well as the development of their organisations.
Similarly, the NYC accommodates volunteers who in turn serve their
organisations better with the knowledge gained from such a programme.
Exposure Nationally and Internationally
By organising conferences, training sessions and workshops, young people
from all parts of The Gambia are exposed to other cultures (The Gambia is
multicultural) and ideas as well as meeting young people from other parts
of the country and exchanging ideas as well as interacting with them in a
relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Similarly, young people are exposed
internationally through attending conferences abroad and meeting with other
young people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. The National Youth
Council can facilitate these.
Rationale behind Youth Employment Network (Gambia)
The demographic realities of The Gambia vis a vis the youthfulness of the
population, the high growth rate of labour force and high unemployment rate
among youth, necessitated concerted action towards designing and
implementation of youth development programmes. The severity of the crises
especially as it affects youth demands nothing less.
Under Part II-Section 5 of the NYC Act, the objectives of the NYC include:
- Facilitate youth empowerment for active participation in national
development.
- Support and encourage active youth participation in the development of
policies and programmes.
- Facilitate youth networking and exchange at national and international
levels.
In pursuance of these objectives, the NYC seek to network with national and
international bodies for sharing of experiences and practice, for informed
policy development and access to resources. This is happening against a
backdrop of global preparations towards the Global Youth Employment Summit
(YES) to be held in Alexandria, Egypt in September 2002. The organising
committee of the YES seeks participation of all developing countries and
further requires that countries put in motion activities towards their
participation in the YES.
The NYC, as part of its activities for youth programmes development,
networking and resource mobilisation, seek to form a Youth Employment
Network in The Gambia that will, inter alia, work towards Gambia's
participation in the YES as well as work towards attaining the goal of the
decade campaign.
The participation of young people in the socio-economic development of The
Gambia is very important particularly in the area of income earning for a
standard living. A major challenge facing the young people of The Gambia is
the rising youth employment. Large proportions of young people are unable
to find productive unemployment. In view of declining employment
opportunities in the youth sector, efforts will be directed at supporting
and promoting programmes/initiatives that facilitate self-employment among
the young. Most skills training programmes have failed or have had
negligible impact on youth unemployment due to their failure to recognise
that although training is necessary, it is not sufficient on its own to
support young people to secure self employment and to increase their income
levels.
It is worrying to note that out of the one billion youth on the planet,
eight hundred and fifty million live in developing countries. One of the
greatest challenges facing the world is to generate productive work
opportunities for young people aged 15 - 29 that bring rising expectations
for employment opportunities and lifestyles comparable to those found in
industrial economies.
High levels of unemployment and rapidly deteriorating standards of living
are resulting in destructive social unrest and dangerous levels of tension
among youth. It is imperative that concerted efforts are made to tackle the
issues of youth unemployment.
By virtue of the above facts, the Youth Employment Summit (YES) is
scheduled for September 2002 at Alexandria in Egypt to launch the Global
Campaign for Youth Employment. Over two thousand prominent youths, NGOs,
Government, Businesses, Education and Training Institutions will converge
in Egypt for four days to adopt the YES framework for action to guide the
decade campaign (2002 - 2012).
Composition of Yen (Gambia)
The Youth Employment Network Gambia Chapter is spearheaded by the National
Youth Council and comprises registered national youth organisations and
stakeholders in youth and employment.
The structure of the YEN (G) includes a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC),
which comprises experts and stakeholders in youth and employment.
Then there is the National Network, which comprises the National Youth
Council, National Youth Organisations and Divisional Youth Committee
Chairpersons.
Following suit is the Divisional Youth Employment Network, which comprises
Divisional Youth Committees, divisional youth organisations and local
stakeholders.
To be continued.
--
There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see,
yet small enough to solve (Mike Leavitt)
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