Banjul - Gambia — Regional stakeholders have concluded a sensitization workshop hosted by the ECOWAS Commission in Banjul, The Gambia that enabled them to discuss the implementation of the ECOWAS youth policy of 2008.
The workshop provided a platform for the participants, who were drawn from Member States and civil society, to exchange ideas on best practices and experiences on youth development and empowerment. Gambia's Minister of Youth and Sport, Mr. Sheriff Gomez opened the 5 day workshop and used the opportunity to applaud the initiative by ECOWAS to promote the implementation of the youth policy whose overall objective is to empower youth within the region and involve them in the regional integration and development process. 'The youth of the region have great potentials which need to be harnessed we need to continue to nurture, empower and support them as they can only realize their potential as leaders of tomorrow if they equipped with the right tools and capabilities,' he said.
He added that this was the only way to 'guarantee sustainable socio economic development and contribute to the realization of the dreams of our founding fathers particularly as we are moving from an ECOWAS of Sates to an ECOWAS of people.' In an address to the workshop, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Development and Gender, Dr. Adrienne Diop, stressed that the complaints by youths in the region were being driven largely by the little or no recognition accorded them in spite of their numerical superiority as they constitute a greater majority in our respective countries. 'Often they are used to execute the agenda of the rich powerful, and as soon as these are achieved, the youth are now left out in the cold with no skills or means of survival,' she said.
The Commissioner who was represented by Mr. Kennedy Barsisa of the Commission reiterated that ECOWAS remains in the vanguard of mobilizing the youth so that they can be adequately and properly engaged in the regional integration and development process. She emphasized that of Africa's Regional Economic Communities, ECOWAS was the first to establish a functional youth and sports development centre which helps build the capacity of the region's youth and engaging them to contribute to regional development through. Through the Centre, she said that ECOWAS has developed appropriate policy tools and policy frameworks to develop produce and implement programmes and initiatives targeted at addressing the needs of and aspirations of youth in the region. 'While we celebrate the achievement made with the implementation the youth policy for empowerment and development, we must not forget the challenges facing the youth, including the challenges posed by the menace of trans-border crimes like human and illicit drug trafficking, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons and corruption,' the Commissioner added.
These problems, she said, have been compounded by the energy crises, imminent scourge of droughts in some member states, floods and the looming onset of famine and food crisis. In response, she said the region should urgently brace-up for a concerted strategy to address these daunting challenges through the strengthening of existing institutional frameworks and the development of and new initiatives that will help create an environment that will stimulate job creation and skills development for self- employment.
During the workshop, the UNDP presented a unified template for funds application on Youth development programmes for each Member State to adapt based in its peculiarities.
