The President's International Award (PIA) last Friday inaugurated a new board of directors to steer the affairs of the association for the next two years.

Established 20 years ago, PIA is a challenging educational programme for young people aged between 14-25 years. Every year, thousands of young people across the world participate in the various award programmes and reports indicate that The Gambia has one of the best participation rates in Africa.

In recent years, many young people in the country have benefited from the award programme and are now serving in various sectors. The scheme offers a wide range of skills training, ranging from auto mechanics, welding, skills enterprises to secretarial studies. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Abdoulie Bah, the chief executive officer of the PIA, thanked the outgoing members of the board for their immense contribution to the success of the centre over the past years. According to him, The Gambia has a centre of excellence which is not available to other countries in the region. Mambanjick Njie, the permanent secretary at the Department of State for Youths and Sport, on behalf of the SoS, expressed his gratitude to the management of PIA for their hard work.

According to him, youths play a crucial role in the development of any nation and the department of State for Youths and Sports has made youth development a key priorities as their participation in the growth and development of the country is well appreciated. Langtombong Tamba, the chief of Defence Staff of the Gambia Armed Forces and the new chairman of the PIA board of directors, expressed gratitude to the CEO and staff of the PIA for their tireless efforts.

"I also express my deepest gratitude to all members of the award programme for the confidence and trust bestowed on us. May I assure you that I will try to work to the best of my ability for the betterment of the Award. Have no doubt that all the members are determined and will continue fighting to ensure unity, integration and prosperity of the award and the country at large," he said.

CDS Tamba further said that the fact that the Award is still active after 30 years shows how successful it is. In another development, the PIA and the SoS Children's Village Bakoteh signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the same venue. Shortly after the signing ceremony, Oumie Taal, of the SoS Children's Village, disclosed that the MoU is meant to formalise the cooperation between the two institutions. According to her, the cooperation started many years back, and has been beneficial to both institutions.