National Youth Consultations

AU 2nd High Level Dialogue

The Gambia

Current Scenario The Gambia is the smallest country in mainland Africa. Since independence, it has enjoyed long political stability. The country has few natural resources and heavily relies on peanut production. About 60% of its population of 1.8 million is young people. Youth occupied 20 (17 elected and 3 nominated by the president) seats out of 53 in the National Assembly. Despite this great number, young people are politically alienated. One major law that alienates young people from the political process is the Information and Communication Act of 2009, which was amended in 2013 to relate to internet offences. This new amendments to many young people will further alienate them from the political process, as government targets one medium, they have been using to express their frustration and anger on government policies and programs. In the Gambia, youths consist about 60% of the population and in the nearest future; there is hope of an increase. Young people in the Gambia, have to be informed, educated, trained, empowered to be able to vanquish problems affecting them. Records have shown that the country has registered some economic hardship across some major sectors over the years; this could be potential sources for civil unrests. In Gambia, issues affecting young people are attempted solved by political authorities and older generations without truly consulting young people for their inputs to address youth problems. Young people challenges and exclusiveness from decision making processes can be explained from political and traditional standpoints with perceptions of youths as ignorant, problematic and useless. All these lead to undermining the rights to participation by young people in decision making process even on issues that young people could solely deal with. They are virtually left with no room to learn by doing. Details of the National Youth Consultation The Youth consultation was carried out in two faces. The first was an online survey using Survey Monkey and the second face was a physical meeting that brought together youth leaders from all over the country. The online survey targeted individual youth between the ages of 17 to 35. The survey questions developed using Survey Monkey was shared through group emails and social media sites, particularly facebook and twitter. A total of 39 Gambian youth, some of whom are outside the country took part in the survey. The physical meeting was done in collaboration with the National Youth Council (NYC) during the African Youth Day celebration hosted by CAID and NYC at the NYC Secretariat.

The youth gathering constituted youth representing various organization throughout the country. About 30 youth attended the forum along with the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Due to the nature and sensitivity of the questions, participants were asked to send in their responses in order not to reveal their identity for their personal security. Later, they were divided into 5 groups to discuss on the African Youth Charter. The following questions were used in both consultations.
1. How has democracy faired in your country over the last 5 years? 2. Do young people take active part in the democratic processes? 3. Is the rule of law adhered to in your country or laws are modified possibly to

suit the Government in power

4. Do young people believe that elections are free and fair and that elected

leaders represent the wishes of the people?

5. Are there constitutional impediments that limit the participation of young

people in electoral and democratic processes in your country?

Youth Responses

Generally, about 70 youth participated in the National Consultation. More than 60% of participants are between the ages of 21-29 years of age. In terms of gender 65% of participants are men, while the remaining are women. Majority are engage in the socio-economic development of the country. However, most of them do not directly engage in the political process because of the unfavorable conditions on the ground. Majority of the participants are not pleased with the level of democracy in the country. They acknowledge the periodic elections but complain that the playing field is not level because the opposition parties do not have similar access to public media like the incumbent. Likewise respects for fundamental democratic principles are not adhered to. Young people feel that the current system alienates them from taking part in the democratic process effectively. The lack of alternatives from political parties, the huge gap in civic education, lack of youth friendly policies and programs as well as lack of freedom of expression were all highlighted as the reasons for young people

not taking part in the electoral system. Even though the constitution guarantees all these, in practice is not respected. Young people agreed that in most cases government modified laws to suite their own interest, despite the fact that people adhere to the rule of law in most cases. Majority of young people believe that elections are free but not fair because the population especially young people who constitute the majority are not widely sensitize on issues. They also highlighted issues with the electoral process, particular on issues regarding campaign and finance. Most believe that the ruling party uses State funds and apparatuses to run their campaigns at the expense of the state. About 50% of participants believe that there are constitutional impediments, 30% said there are no constitutional impediments barring young people from participating and 20% have no idea. The explanations given by the majority has to do with criminalization of free speech that is critical to the government as enshrined in the amended Information and Communication Act of 2013 (internet offences) that was passed in parliament that criminalizes the use of social media to criticize civil servants and government institutions. Such a provision they said limits the participation of young people. Young people want to ask all the tough questions and like to put everything on the table. Since this is not achievable yet, the participation of young people in the democratic process is limited.

Recommendations 1. Participants recommends the repealing of the media act that limits their right to self expression 2. A national study to be carried out on youth political participation for a broader understanding of why young people do not participate in the political process. 3. The National Council for Civic Education should be funded and to expand on their mandate to sensitize the general public especially youth on their civic rights 4. There is a need for fair elections to be conducted with all parties having the same access to the media 5. The Young people should be motivated through trainings to run for offices. 6. The arbitrary arrest, detention and sometimes forceful disappearance of many young people especially journalist should stop with immediate effect.