The National Youth Movement for Transparent Elections (NAYMOTE), in collaboration with TrustAfrica, recently held a daylong youth-driven forum in Salala, Bong County. The youth-driven forum brought together over thirty-five (35) young people drawn from Salala, Suakoko, Fuamah, Jorquelleh, and Yellequelleh Districts in Bong County.

During the forum, participants discussed among other topics, the roles of young people in community development, what is community development; and youth involvement in the democratic process of nation building.
 
Making remarks on behalf of the participants, a member of the Bong Youth Association, Shark Dolley extended gratitude to NAYMOTE for its effort in educating young people on their participation in the rebuilding process. “It has created peaceful coexistence among local authorities and us,” Dolley maintained.
 
Also speaking, NAYMOTE Program Officer, Mark Marvey told the gathering that the forum was meant for young people in the County to learn about the meaningful roles and contributions to the society. “It is also meant to create a sense of solidarity among young people to see themselves as an integral part of a nation,” he averred.
 
The NAYMOTE Program Officer further said, the youth forum is being held yearly in several counties and has stimulated what he called the opportunity for young people to be acknowledged about the basic rights and societal responsibilities as youth.
 
Marvey revealed that the program has significantly progressed, with many communities being inspired, and challenged the participants to be peace ambassadors in their respective communities.
 
For his part, in a brief interview with our Bong County Correspondent following the forum, TrustAfrica Civil Society Specialist Sidi Diawara expressed happiness over the inputs of participants. Sidi Diawara indicated that the involvement of young people in civil society issues will enable them (youth) to engage their leaders in the democratic process, which he considers a tool to moving the nation forward.