By Aji Fatou Faal
The Gambia National Youth Council in collaboration with UN Major Group for Children and Youth (West and Central Africa Humanitarian Affairs Working Group) Wednesday organized a day consultative forum on the process of developing the “Guidelines for working with and for the Young People in Humanitarian Actions”, held at the Friendship Hostel in Bakau.
Speaking at the forum, Dembo Kambi, NYC Chairperson revealed that this forum is geared towards contributing to the global efforts of developing guidelines for working with and for young people in humanitarian setting. In May 2016, the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian setting was launched during the first ever World Humanitarian Summit held in Istanbul, Turkey.
He added that the Compact was endorsed by a multitude of actors working together towards a set of 5 actions. These include members of states, UN agencies, I\NGOs, private sector and local organizations. “As of November 2017 50 members signed up and the number is still growing while the Compact represents the first global collaborative initiative to really focus on working with and for young people in humanitarian setting and over 50 organizations including UN entities, and UN MGCY-of which NYC is a member entity, played a significant role in the development of the Compact”, he revealed.
He stated that according to the Gambia’s humanitarian Needs Overview 2016, 427,000 people were affected by food security, and 182,000 people needed assistance. “This has no way left out young people, who are usually in the forefront of preparing for, responding to, and are either directly or indirectly affected by disasters and other emergencies.”
