Gambia

<p>In 2017, the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) was launched to contribute to the economic development of The Gambia by improving the employability of the youth population of the country, especially potential and returning migrants. The project enhances employability and self-employment opportunities for youth through vocational training and the creation of micro and small-sized enterprises, and support in catalysing value addition and internationalization in selected sectors.</p><p><br></p><p>The project takes a market-led approach to create employment opportunities and simultaneously upskills the workforce according to the demand of the market place. It focuses on traditional sectors such as agriculture and tourism while also helping to diversify the Gambian economy by supporting &ldquo;new&rdquo; promising sectors including the creative and digital services industries.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>YEP is implemented by the International Trade Centre in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment (MOTIE) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS) of the Republic of The Gambia.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">The project aims to mitigate growing conflict and tensions occurring among rural Gambian agricultural communities, which are affected by increasing impacts of climate change. This<span lang="EN-US">&nbsp;includes changes in precipitation patterns, declining agricultural yields, shorter growing seasons or rising sea-levels.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">The project provides solutions for climate conflict through reducing the impact of its drivers by rehabilitating and protecting arable land, diversifying away from conflict drivers, developing income sources not reliant on rain-fed agriculture and solving existing conflicts through the strengthening of conflict resolution mechanisms.</span><span lang="EN-US">&nbsp;</span>The<span lang="EN-US">&nbsp;project will be implemented by ITC, UNFPA and WFP in partnership with local implementing partners.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US">ITC&apos;s interventions include the strengthening of local conflict resolution mechanism, the introduction of production techniques to improve the yields, developing new market solutions for agro-processing products and facilitating participation in trade fairs for communities. ITC will roll out vocational trainings to upgrade the skills of women and youth to adopt new sources of income generating activities.</span></p>

<p>Following the recent political changes in The Gambia with the transition to the new democratic coalition government, which coincided with significant levels of returning migrants, it is crucial for stability and peace of the country to have appropriate measures to positively and sustainably reintegrate young Gambian migrants who have, in their majority suffered abuse and face stigma back home. &nbsp;ITC&apos;s interventions will include developing a multi-stakeholder communications platform, led by the Government of The Gambia, to coordinate messages related to irregular migration. This includes the provision of timely, accurate and updated information and support services to returnees and vulnerable youth and the effective and constructive engagement of public and private actors involved in sensitization work. ITC will complement ongoing support measures (including provision of vocational training and business start-up support) available through ongoing programs of IOM and ITC (YEP) as well as community based reintegration activities for returnees and host communities, specifically by building the bridges for returnees to connect with existing economic support measures while also promoting the re-building and strengthening of socio-economic networks amongst returnees, youth and communities.<span>&nbsp;Finally, ITC will continue to provide capacity building to existing Youth Centers/institutions to develop and upscale the quality and range of services, including reintegration support, in two selected regions of The Gambia that are particularly migration-prone, envisaged to be Greater Banjul and West Coast Region.<span>&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p>The overall objective of the regional programme is to &quot;strengthen the competitiveness of West Africa by enhancing the production, transformation, and export capacities of the private sector in alignment with regional and national industrial and SME strategies.&quot; The specific objective is &quot;to improve the performance and growth of selected priority sectors and value chains and related services by stimulating their contribution to industry, regional trade, and exports.&quot;</p><p></p><p>The ITC&apos;s intervention through the West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) involves implementing activities that promote better regional linkages among selected value chains, support key regional intermediary organizations, reinforce industrial competitiveness in the region, and establish the West African Competitiveness Observatory along with related business tools.</p>

<p>The &ldquo;Jobs, Skills and Finance (JSF) for Women and Youth in The Gambia&rdquo; Programme funded by the 11th European Development Fund is implemented by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in collaboration with the International Trade Center (ITC). The project has an overarching focus on promoting a green economy such as renewable energy, sustainable construction and eco-tourism. ITC&rsquo;s support focuses on improving the relevance, effectiveness, and accessibility of vocational and technical training as well as other market-led skills training to improve employability and job creation. The project improves strategic direction and coordination at national and regional level for a market-oriented TVET system, strengthens the capacity of training providers and effectiveness of their services, and supports the roll-out of training opportunities through and in formal skills training and apprenticeship programmes.&nbsp;</p>