The Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports, Hon. Bakary Y. Badjie, recently represented The Gambia at the 2024 UN ECOSOC Youth Forum.
He was joined by Permanent Secretary Ms. Ndey Marie Njie , Mr. Alagie Jarju , Executive Director, and Hon. Sainey Jawara member for Lower saloum amongst other delegates.
In his address to the forum, the Hon. Minister emphasized the Government of the Gambia’s commitment to investing in the growth and development of young people who comprised more than 60% of our population. Young people are supported with life and livelihood skills training, a scheme to provide grants and loans for SMEs and training along the Agriculture Value Change amongst others.
Hon. Badjie also discussed the development of The Gambia's Country Programme of Action for Youth with support from UNFPA, aligning it with the National Youth Policy and the National Development Plan 2023–2027.
He noted that the UNDP, along with other development partners and youth groups are working through the National Youth Council to develop a Youth Peace and Security National Action Plan, designed to meet international obligations under UNSCR 2250 and other relevant frameworks.
The 2024 UN ECOSOC Youth Forum took place from April 16th to 18th at the United Nations headquarters in New York on the theme “Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions”, with emphasizes on SDGs no poverty (SDG 1), zero hunger (SDG 2), climate action (SDG 13), peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG 16), and partnerships for the goals (SDG 17).
It is an annual initiative of the ECOSOC President, providing a platform for young people to share their ideas, solutions, and innovations to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
