The national representative of Global Unification-The Gambia, Ebrima Dem, has returned from Italy, after attending the NMC Youth meeting for Sustainable Future.

The meeting was held on the 19th to 21st of January in the city of Bari, Italy. It was organized by the Italian government, under the regional government of Apulia in partnership with UNESCO, Inter-America Bank, UN-Habitat among others. The theme of the meeting was: “The Future is not over”. Speaking to our reporter at his office along Mosque Road, Serekunda, Dem said the meeting was aimed at strengthening the effective participation of youth leaders in influencing policies on sustainable development on planet earth.

He noted that despite the current challenges to survival posed by the threat of climate change, gender-based violence, over population, child exploitation, and unemployment, there is still hope for sustainable future for everyone, if they work closely together. Commenting on the trend of global change, he said the time that the world has left to change course is limited, that the global population has increased at a staggering rate and increasingly concentrating on the urban areas. The demand for resources required to support the current development model and the waste it produces, he said, has an environmental impact that is no longer sustainable, “putting at risk the every survival on the planet of the human species and many other existing species,” he added. “The increasing divide between those who have the financial means and those who do not, is threatening social cohesion within most societies. All of these were on what the Italy youth confab centered on,” he said.

Dem further remarked that  the youth are the most numerous section of the global population; thus the main stakeholders in sustainable future. Despite this reality, he stated, they are under represented when it comes to policies being defined and implemented and their opinions, strengths and suggestions are given only scant attention when decisions are taken in society and within institutions.

The GU Rep then remarked that the meeting provided him the rare opportunity to share his ideas and learn new ways of promoting standard livelihood among young people in particular. He revealed that the forum took the form of plenary sessions and capacity building workshops on five thematic areas:Human Safety, Environment, Employment, Education and Citizenship. At the end of the meeting, he said he finally said, the youth participants prepared a declaration on the need for the youth to take active and leading role in development and their own advancement.