YAP Holds Fifth Graduation Ceremony

The Daily Observer (Banjul)

Abdou Sanyang

2 June 2011

The Youth Ambassadors of Peace (YAP) has recently held graduation ceremony at the Joint Officers Mess in Kotu.

The ceremony marks the fifth graduation of the new members of the Youth Ambassadors of Peace and members from other youth organisations in The Gambia, who underwent a six-month recruitment exercise with the aim of becoming peace and leadership educators.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Lamin Sanyang, the chairperson of the occasion, said the objectives of YAP are to cultivate in the minds of young people the role of humanity and to adhere to their welfare, develop their leadership potential while enhancing their maximum participation in national and international development, and to have new members in the organisation. He said the aim of the training is to empower young people to build a sense of social responsibility.

For his part, Edmon Folay called on the graduates to reflect on the numerous crises in Africa and other countries that are in violence.

Amie Nyang, the guest speaker on the occasion, commended the members for their dedication on issues pertaining to youth welfare and their development aspirations, which have the objective of maintaining global peace. She went on to explain that youth-related affairs have expanded across the globe and that the African Union declared that 2009-2019 is the decade of youth development in Africa.

Other speakers included Abdou Boye of YAP, Matarr Baldeh and Abdou A. Taal, who all challenged the graduates to make good use of the knowledge gained from the training.

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