Friday, March 11, 2022, the Thematic Working Group on youth, women, and persons living with disabilities met with the Review Committee of the Ministry of Youth and Sport to discuss a youth position paper on the Youth Bill 2021. The National Youth Council on December 29, 2021, published a draft youth bill that is supposed to repeal and replace the Youth Act 2000.
Consequently, youth leaders from various national youth organizations through TANGO’s working groups and with technical support from Freedom House developed a youth position. The position paper followed a series of consultative meetings with various actors and stakeholders across the country.
The validated youth position paper was submitted to MoYS’s Review Committee, and the consultant was responsible for the drafting of the bill. The committee then promised to invite young people for a meeting, and that promise was fulfilled on Friday, March 11, 2022.
The meeting with the Review Committee of the Ministry of Youth and Sports discussed the position paper and held detailed consultations on the proposal and recommendations of the young people.
We are very please with the responsiveness of the Committee, and their willingness to engage, and debate on the proposals and recommendations. We are glad that the Committee has accepted most of these recommendations. And we look forward to continued engagement with the Committee to ensure the bill reflects the needs and aspirations of the youth of The Gambia today and future generations. Besides working with the Committee, we will continue our advocacy by engaging other relevant stakeholders. We will continue to provide updates to young people on the progress of the bill, and our engagement with relevant stakeholders.
We wish to thank all the Committee members through the Chairperson, Musa Mbaye (Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports) for the meaningful exchange. We hope to continue this type of engagement in promoting the interest of the young people of The Gambia.
The working group on youth, women, and persons living with disabilities (marginalized groups) are one of several working groups under The Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (TANGO) supported by Freedom House via the Promoting Rights and Justice program funded by the United States government through USAID.
