By Alieu Ceesay
Young people across the Mansakonko Area Council have been given a prominent voice in shaping the local authority’s ambitious 2027 Strategic Plan, in a landmark consultation designed to make governance more inclusive and responsive to the needs of the next generation.
The youth engagement forum, supported by ActionAid International The Gambia and its development partners, brought together dozens of young representatives, council officials, community leaders, and other stakeholders. Participants deliberated on key priorities including employment creation, skills development, access to education, entrepreneurship, environmental protection, and improved civic participation.
The initiative forms part of a broader push by the Mansakonko Area Council to align local development efforts with national priorities while ensuring that young people – who constitute a significant portion of the population – are not left behind in decision-making processes that will shape their future.
Landing B. Sanneh, Chairman of the Mansakonko Area Council, said the strategic plan is deliberately youth-focused to address pressing challenges facing the region’s young population.
“The strategic plan basically prioritizes youth development. That is the focus of our strategic plan,” Sanneh told participants. “We want to focus this strategic plan more on changing the life of our young people. Because we know if we invest realistically into youth development, we definitely will change the status quo of the conditions of our young people.”
He added that the plan, conceived in line with The Gambia’s national development blueprint, seeks to tackle issues such as irregular migration and high unemployment through targeted interventions. The document will also incorporate the concerns of women, young girls, and persons with disabilities.
Representing ActionAid International, Project Manager Bridget Tabou Corea emphasized the importance of giving young people ownership of the strategies that will affect them.
“We felt this activity is to give the youth ownership of the strategies – for them to know what is in the strategy so that they will know where their responsibilities are and execute them to the letter,” she said. “We want them to take ownership of the strategy so that they will demand for their rights.”
Corea noted that the engagement is part of ActionAid’s youth promotion initiative, funded by the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (UNPBF) through ActionAid International The Gambia.
Youth representatives welcomed the move, describing it as a refreshing departure from traditional top-down planning. Ousman Ndaw, Regional Chairperson of the Lower River Region Youth Committee, highlighted persistent challenges including limited access to tertiary education and finance for micro-enterprises.
“Some of the priorities would be providing youth with decent and sufficient employment opportunities,” Ndaw said. He urged the council to partner with development actors to establish skills-training institutions and create avenues for young people to engage productively in their communities.
Participants called for concrete follow-up actions, urging the council not only to incorporate their recommendations into the final document but to sustain engagement with young people during implementation.
As the consultation concluded, many youths expressed optimism that the 2027 Strategic Plan would deliver tangible improvements in livelihoods and opportunities. Council officials assured participants that the input gathered would directly inform resource allocation and development interventions over the coming years.
The Mansakonko Area Council’s youth-centric approach signals a growing recognition across local government institutions that sustainable development is impossible without the active participation of young people, who represent both the present and future of the region.
