By Lamarana S. Jallow
The Minister of Youth and Sports (MOYS) Bakary Y. Badjie has been nominated to serve as a member of the Commonwealth Youth Ministerial Taskforce (CYMTF) on behalf of the Africa group. His nomination and confirmation was recently done at the just concluded 10th Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting held in United Kingdom, London from 11th - 15th September 2023.
The summit brought together over 400 participants including government ministers, senior officials, youth leaders, and representatives from development organisations and civil society.
The Commonwealth Youth Ministers Taskforce’s mandate includes: to advise Commonwealth Youth Ministers and the Secretariat on the delivery of the mandate and resolutions from Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meetings, and provide strategic direction to the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth.
In particular, its look into the manner in which regional and Pan-Commonwealth priorities are being addressed against the stated objectives and priorities; programme implementation and related budgetary issues; any other matters concerning CYP programmes; facilitate monitoring of progress against resolutions and commitments agreed in CYMMs and youth-related commitments arising from Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGMs) and other related Commonwealth forums and ministerial meetings.
The 10th CYMM Ministerial outcome statement announced membership of the taskforce as thus:
Africa: Rwanda (Co-Chair); The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Kenya
Caribbean: The Bahamas; Jamaica
Asia: Pakistan (Co-Chair); India
Pacific: Papua New Guinea; Samoa Europe: Cyprus