GYIN GAMBIA CHAPTER HELD SECOND MENTORSHIP COHORT GRADUATION

On 16 March 2019, The Global Youth Innovation Network (GYIN) Gambia Chapter held a graduation of 50 young Gambians on Enterprise Management, at a colourful graduation ceremony held at the Jenoi Agricultural Rural Farmers’ Training Centre, Lower River Region (LRR).

GYIN Gambia has since its inception as a national youth network specialises on youth led rural developments programs and activities.

The six months Youth Mentorship Programme was bankrolled by the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP).

The programme has been designed to provide support for the mentees on Understanding Business Ecosystem, Banking and Finance, Applying Grants and Loans, as well as Records Keeping.

The Graduation Ceremony brought together dignitaries from various ministries and partners, including YEP, Nema Project, Gambia Youth Chamber of Commerce (GYCC), GYIN Gambia Regional Coordinators, GYINers, youth organisations, as well as the community of Jenoi and Jarra Soma.

IFAD supports G20 initiatives to promote land management and rural youth employment

Rome, 26 July 2018 – Ahead of his address to the Group of Twenty (G20) Ministers of Agriculture Meeting this week, Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), offered the institution's full support for efforts to increase the sustainable production of nutritious foods.

"Sustainably feeding a growing population will take collective action and IFAD stands ready to partner with the G20 to achieve this,” Houngbo said prior to his departure for Buenos Aires. “With small family farms supplying up to 80 per cent of the food produced in developing countries, it has never been more critical to invest in these farmers, providing the tools for them to better manage their land and ensure the health and productivity of their soil in the face of a changing climate.”

GYIN Gambia Welcomes GLEN Interns

From left: Paulina Kowalke & Tim Tolle

The national chapter of Global Youth Innovation Network (GYIN Gambia) on Thursday held a session to welcome interns from GLEN (Global Education Network of Young Europeans). 

Their arrival is part of a three months internship programme between the two organisations on areas of youth work and development in the Gambia.

Speaking at the welcoming ceremony, Mamadou Edrisa Njie, Executive Director of the national chapter said the receipt of two interns by his office is a significant mark of partnership between GLEN (Global Education Network of Young Europeans) and the Gambia chapter of Global Youth Innovation Network (GYIN Gambia).

He said that the internship programme is intended to promoting and supporting youth in rural areas in the areas of agriculture and small-scale agri-business. He added that their engagements will include sharing knowledge of entrepreneurship, business advisory services, mentoring, and organisational management, as well as public relations work, fundraising and some computer skills with their counterparts in the country.

GYIN GAMBIA) TO OFFER MENTORSHIP TO HIGH-POTENTIAL ENTREPRENEURS

[Banjul, The Gambia– 30^thOctober 2017] 

The Global Youth Innovation Network Gambia Chapter (GYIN Gambia) and The Gambia Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) have signed a grant Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the purpose of providing one-to-one mentoring to high-potential young entrepreneurs.

Global Youth Innovation Network Gambia Chapter (GYIN Gambia) is a national youth organization under the National Youth Council (NYC). GYIN Gambia has been implementing a number of youth projects related to agribusiness, information technology and entrepreneurship. Under the MOU, GYIN Gambia will match Gambian youth entrepreneurs with mentors who will provide individualized coaching. In addition, all mentors and mentees will meet monthly in a workshop to share experiences and to learn from one another.

Counseling and Guidance Training for Youth Migrant Returnees

Participants holding the training banner, shortly after the opening ceremony

The Gambia National Youth Council in partnership with the Gambian Immigration Department, the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) and supported by the Gambia Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) are organizing a 5-day intensive training on counselling and guidance for voluntary youth migrant returnees in the country.

DATE: 5^th to 9^th July 2017

TIME:  08:30 – 6:00PM (Daily)

LOCATION: Bwian, West Coast Region

Part of the Council’s series of activities to tackle irregular youth migration and accelerate returnees’ management, this action will bring together youth and other stakeholders from different parts of the country to be trained on;

- Guidance and counseling, returnees’ case management and mentoring.

- Orient the returnees on opportunities and support agencies available for youth in the Gambia and how they can access such support services.

- Assess the capacities of the returnees for possible support and linkages with appropriate support service providers or projects.

IFAD calls for policies to end poverty in West and Central Africa

IFAD calls for policies to empower rural youth, encourage private investment, increase access to land and finance to end poverty in West and Central Africa

Abidjan/Rome, 23 November 2016 --Youth unemployment, insecure land tenure and weak value chains are the main obstacles in the way of ending poverty and inequality in West and Central Africa, says a new report to be presented today in Abidjan by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Youth under the age of 35 account for 75 per cent of the population of the region which also has the highest number of rural youth than any other region in the world. Empowering youth is the first step towards achieving prosperity in the region, says the report.

P2RS training aims to bolster youth and women on advance helpful knowledge, says Mrs. Tamba

Olimatou S. Tamba Asst. BDONema/P2RS Training

The Assistant Business Development Officer of the Building Resilience against Food Insecurity in the Sahel (P2RS) project, Madam Olimatou S. Tamba has said that their trainings are designed to upgrade effective knowledge and skills on business development in rural regions.

She was speaking at the official opening ceremony of a 4-day training programme held from 14 to 17 November 2016 at the Microfinance centre in Brikamaba, Central River Region, for rural women and youth on business and income generating methods. 

The overall goal of this training, according to her, is to raise effective knowledge and skills on rural women and youth to become self reliant at the end of the training.

“One of the key activities of the training will focus on guideline on writing business plans thus the training has been designed to be practical with exercises to provide skills”, Tamba noted.

Africa Food Prize awarded to Kanayo F. Nwanze for his dedication to African smallholders

Dr Kanayo Nwanze

The Africa Food Prize Committee, chaired by Olusegun Obasanjo, selected a Nigerian national, Dr Kanayo Nwanze, as the first winner of the ‘Africa Food Prize’ award for his efforts to improve the lives of smallholder farmers. Dr. Nwanze takes home $100,000 worth prize.

The President of the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) was awarded the inaugural Africa Food Prize at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Nairobi.]

Nwanze is honored for initiating agricultural reforms, policies and programs which has improved the lives of millions and for his courageous leadership in encouraging solidarity with Africa’s smallholder farmers.

“I would like to dedicate this award to the millions of African women who silently toil to feed their families,” said Dr. Nwanze. “No nation has been able to transform itself without giving women the same rights and opportunities as men. Our hope for future generations rests with African women who bear and raise our young people who will shape the African continent in the years to come,” said Nwanze.

Governor Puye tells youth: Seek funding and you will be assisted

Governor Salifu Puy, Lower River Region at the closing ceremony

“Seek for funding at the regional and national levels and you will be assisted,” the  Governor of Lower River Region (LRR), Salieu Puye, told Gambian youth last week. 

 

While presiding over the closing of GYIN Gambia ELIT 2016 summer camp on July 31 at Jenoi village in LRR, Governor Puye said the youth should start-up businesses and be persistent in it.

“Let us stay there for a while, learn some theories, learn from our mistakes and then correct it for the future. Try to build partnership among yourselves like other countries are doing and you build yourselves into a vibrant private sector-led business in this country,” he further said.

The regional governor said at regional level, there are small grants from FASDEP, CILIP, and NEMA projects that the youth can benefit from. 

IFAD grants of US$1.95million to create opportunities for rural youth in West and Central Africa

Heather Spidell, President and CEO of CEED, and Michel Mordasini, Vice President of IFAD, signed the grant agreement today.

"Investing in rural youth is critical if they are to stay in rural areas and contribute to their development"

Rome, 26 February 2014 – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will provide a grant of US$1.95 million to the Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development (CEED) to support creating opportunities for rural youth in West and Central Africa, beginning in Benin, Cameroon, Gambia and Nigeria.

Heather Spidell, President and CEO of CEED, and Michel Mordasini, Vice President of IFAD, signed the grant agreement today.