By Fatou Sillah
His Excellency President Adama Barrow presided over the launching of the YouthCan project and the Five-year National Strategy plan (2023-2027) of SOS Children’s Villages in The Gambia on Monday at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center in Bijilo.
YouthCan is a global initiative that supports young people who have lost parental care or are at risk of losing it on their journey to decent work and an independent life. It aims to empower these young people by supporting them to strengthen their employability skills and thereby increase their chances of finding self-employment. This is done by providing individualized training, job shadowing opportunities, internships, and mentoring.
The SOS Children’s Villages in the Gambia National Strategy will start in 2023 and end in 2027. It will pursue big shifts in the areas of alternative solutions such as foster care and kinship care.
President Adama Barrow announced at the launch of the YouthCan project that it will support more than 500 young people in the country over the next five years. He called on all private and public sectors, civil society organizations, philanthropic organizations, and UN agencies to support this important project, which aims to empower the majority of the population.
“It is targeted that the YouthCan project will support more than five hundred (500) young people with relevant employability skills in the next five years across the country. We call on all the private and public sectors, CSOs, philanthropic organizations and UN agencies to support this important project geared towards empowering the bulk of our population,” the president said.
The President of Gambia says his government supports SOS Children’s Villages and wants to help young people achieve their dreams. He asks businesses to help SOS Children’s Villages by sharing their time, skills, and stories with the organization’s youth. This will help young people learn and grow, and it will break down the barriers that hold them back.
“The Gambia Government assures you of its support for the SOS Children’s Villages and approval of this laudable project to ensure that young people realize their dreams and aspirations. I re-echo my call on the private and business sectors to join the SOS Children’s Villages journey through their set programmes and activities. Please share your time, skills, expertise, and career stories that would enhance collaborative learning and break down the negative social and physical barriers that hinder progress,” he said.
In offering an organization overview, Jean Pierre Kouamin, the National Coordinator of SOS Children’s Village in The Gambia, underscores that the organization has been a steadfast presence in the country for four decades, with its primary mission centred on providing essential support to children and young individuals who lack sufficient parental care.
“SOS Children’s Villages in The Gambia is a non-governmental, Social, developmental organization with 41 years of operations in The Gambia. The organization focuses on supporting children and young people without adequate parental care,” he said.
SOS Children’s Villages has been working in The Gambia since the early 1980s and has established SOS village communities in Bakoteh and Basse.