By Sulayman Waan
The Chairperson of National Youth Council (NYC), Mr. Dembo Kambi, has renewed his clarion call for the economic empowerment of the country’s youth folk.
The senior official of the umbrella youth body wants the President Adama Barrow-led Government to establish what he called National Youth Development Fund (NaYDF) in order to support Gambian youth economically.
Speaking to Mansa Bank Online in an exclusive interview on Tuesday, June 16 2020 at NYC office, Kambi said he had made it clear before and will make it again, that currently, what they need as young people, “is to call on the Gambia Government to swiftly establish a National Youth Development Fund for us”.
He believed such a fund would help the Youth Council to support young entrepreneurs and also help to re-integrate Gambian returnees from foreign nations such as European countries and Libya, among others.
It could be recalled that in 2004, African leaders launched the African Youth Development Fund (AYDF) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during an African Summit. It’s Vision is an Africa where all her youth are dynamic, transformative leaders and value adding citizens; while the Mission is: To support the holistic development of African communities by instilling in their youth an appreciation for leadership, education, and health through participation in sports and life skills programs.
With those lofty ideals still fresh in mind, the NYC Chair maintained it’s the responsibility of the African Heads of State and government to replicate this initiative in their various countries.
At the 2019 Youth Connekt Gambia Summit held at Senegambia Hotel, West Coast Region, Kambi himself had called on President Barrow to establish AYDF in The Gambia so as to develop the youth economically, and close the unemployment gap through engaging in business.
Kambi now reminds the authorities of his previous call, saying, “I have been calling on President Barrow to give us NaYDF to support our young entrepreneurs and also help our young people that are deported, either from Europe or Libya, so that they will reintegrate in the society.” He is optimistic that if that fund is laid out, the Gambian youth would be given grants to engage in business, adding there would a team to monitor and supervise them to ensure their businesses progress as expected.
He indicated that if any young person benefits from the fund, he or she would plough back the profit into the fund, to ensure that other young people also benefit from the NYDF. According to a survey conducted by The Gambia Bureau of Statistic (GBOS) in partnership with the Ministry of Health in 2019, Gambia’s unemployment rate has jumped from 38% to 41.5%.
On that note, Chairperson Kambi made it clear that no government could provide hundred percent employments for its citizens; therefore, he said the NYC deems it necessary to request a NaYDF for the youth to engage into business activities in order to empower themselves economically.
“Gambia is less than 2.5 million people. Therefore, if we get the right initiative and the right data, it should not take us 10 years to be developed,” the NYC chair opined.
