NATIONAL YOUTH DIALOGUE ON REFORMS – KANIFING MUNICIPALITY
BACKGROUND:
The Gambia National Youth Council in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) The Gambia organised the first ever National Youth Dialogue on Reforms in The Gambia. Started in the Kanifing Municipality, the Dialogue will be held country-wide covering all the regions of The Gambia. Young people played a significant role in ending dictatorship in the Gambia. This was done through mass sensitization of the populace on the importance of registering to vote in a democracy especially among first time voters (young people). This has resulted in many of them voting in their large numbers resulting in the change of government that ensued.
With the advent of the new government, several plans and reforms have been instituted including the formulation of the National Development Plan 2018 – 2021 (NDP), The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission, Security Sector Reforms and Human Rights Commission among others respectively. These initiatives are expected to unearth the past wrongs, establish durable institutions, progressive laws, a responsive security sector that contributes to peace and support entrenching democracy and rule of law. The development agenda of the new Gambia must take into account the needs and aspiration of citizens in line with the international frameworks such as the sustainable development goals, Agenda 2063 and other regional and sub regional development and legal frameworks.
For these processes to meaningful impact citizens and further stand the test of times, it’s essential that various stakeholders especially the youth are engaged to mobilize their views, concerns and perspectives on how the various mechanism affect their lives. Youth could also provide recommendations and suggestion on how to improve the reform and development trajectory of the Gambia. The National Youth Dialogue on the ongoing reforms and development initiatives in the Gambia will be an effective and inclusive platform to mobilize citizens’ perspectives, endorsements and recommendation on the various processes, ensure accountability, citizen ownership and participation in the attainment of the Gambia We Want.
The main objective of the National Youth Dialogue is to mobilize feedback from citizens, especially youth, on the various reforms mechanism and development issues in the Gambia for necessary improvements, while increasing peoples understanding, participation and ownership of the reforms processes.
The first series of the dialogue took place in Kanifing Municipality and brought together over 100 young people and representatives of the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) and Security Sector Reform (SSR) to discussion the role of youth and need for inclusion in the ongoing reform processes. Below you will find activity reports of dialogue held in different regions of the Gambia.