By: Ndey Sowe
Gender Center for Empowering and Development (GenCED), has initiated young women’s political participation and leadership training on Wednesday October 17th 2018, at a local hotel in Senegambia. The capacity building initiative is to promote young women’s participation in politics. GenCED, a non-governmental organization that seeks to empower women and youth for sustainable development in our communities, operates in four countries in West Africa ie. Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, and the Gambia. The Executive Director of GenCED Esther Tawiah in her welcome remarks, stated that the training is meant to mentor young women in politics and decision making processes; that it is about time women take charge as they are in the majority.
She spoke about mentorship urging that young women need to be mentored in an enabling environment, for them to actively participate in the democratic and electoral process of the country. “We want to move from rhetoric to action,” she said; that young women should gain more knowledge and enhance skills in political participation, and not to be spectators but citizens. She thanked participants and expressed the hope that at the end of the training, there will be change in the democratic and electoral process for young women in the Gambia.
Lamin Darboe, Executive Director of the National Youth Council (NYC), said the significance of the training cannot be overemphasized; that he hopes at the end of the programme, young women will be able to take charge and participate in politics and all other decision making processes.
“We should not be consumers but creators and producers,” he told them; that they anticipate to be good citizens and leaders and to be organized.
He encourages young women to come forward in the political arena, went on, young women should not allow the criticisms on the note which stated that we cannot do it but, but always be ready to face any change as politics is concerned.
He applauded the good initiative of GenCED and that NYC will always support such initiatives. He urged the participants to be at the forefront of politics in the country and not spectators.
Robina Namusisi, Country Director of the International Republican Institute (IRI), said young women should try by to be educated in the political arena and urged them to know the various frameworks to be able to see through the political channels of the country; that it is time for young women to empower themselves in politics, and encourage them to participate in politics and decision making processes. She applauded the initiative as an opportunity for young women to be able to participate in politics and decision making processes, and advised participants to be active and alert after the training programme.
The programme was funded by National Endowment for Democracy (NED) supporting freedom around the world.
