The executive secretary of the National Youth Council (NYC) has urged all youth organisations to come forward and regularise their registration status with the Council.

Marcel Mendy made this remark Monday, during an interview with the Daily Observer. He said this move is meant to ensure that youth organisations meet the NYC’s requirement before beginning operation, as some youth organisations are ‘pocket youth organisations’ who use their organisations to get money or just out to scout for travel opportunities.

He explained that registering with the Attorney General’s Chambers doesn’t actually mean that they should not register with the NYC, adding that the Council is tasked to monitor the operations of all youth organisations or networks and their programmes in the country.

He explains further: “All youth organisations must meet the set standards and that is why they must have a bank account and Tin Number with the name of organisation, a constitution that shows that the organisation is a youth-oriented organisation, and also greater percentage of the membership must be young people.”

He also stressed that national organisations must have D1000 in their account and local organisations must have D500. “Being a national youth organisation does not mean you should be in KMC or Banjul but even in the other regions,” he added.

Mendy said that national youth organisations have to register with a fee of D1000 and pay an annual subscription of D500, while the local youth organisations register with a fee of D500 and pay an annual subscription of D250. He further said that all registered youth organisations should submit annual report to the Council, as there will be a review of registration every two years. According to him, this will help them to keep a database of all activities of the organisations.

The NYC executive secretary disclosed that the registration process started a few months ago with some organisations already registered. He made it clear that only those registered will be invited to attend this year’s bi-annual National Youth Conference and Festival (NAYCONF) to be held in the Central River Region.