GDC mobilizer urges gov’t to consider youth

By Omar Bah The Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) National Youth Mobiliser, MC Cham Junior, has called on the Gambia Government to consider working by involving them in decision making processes. “I think it is high time for our governments to start working with young people, and not just for young people,” he told The Standard yesterday in an interview. MC Cham re-echoes the vision of the GDC’s leader Mamma Kandeh who, in establishing his party, had identified working with and for young people as one of his top priorities. “I believe young people are an opportunity, and they are an asset for development, peace and prosperity to their countries. “We cannot really achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or bring peace and prosperity to our world without engaging young people.” “Whether we are looking at development issues, peace and security, tackling Climate Change, on all these fronts we need to engage young people because they are capable, ready and very much able to do the heavy-lifting in implementing all forms of development agendas,” adds the GDC youth Mobiliser. He said empowering young people in leadership positions will always pay off. “Many around the world still think of youth as a problem; as a liability, but I don’t share that view. To me it’s time to work with young people, by bringing young people in, and allowing them to craft decisions, and to also support their implementation,” he added. “I think we are seeing that shift in paradigm where we see important normative gains happening within the human rights field, or issues related to employment, and some significant initiatives supporting youth on different fronts,” he noted. He continued: “My vision to young people is to unite around the shared platform offered to us. Because youth unemployment is still high – some 74 million young persons are still unemployed. “I keep reminding everyone that nobody should be allowed to gamble with the future of this generation of young people, and the future generations as well. It is also important moment for young people not to lose hope, we should stay determined that we could be the generation that could reverse poverty,” he concluded.]]>