ActionAid calls for domestication of UN policy on youth

Stakeholders have been urged to provide meaningful contributions that will ensure the domestication of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR 2250) on Youth, Peace and Security in Nasarawa State.

An official of ActionAid, Mr Anicetus Atakption, stated this at a policy dialogue on the youth bill and validation of UNSCR 2250 which recognises contributions of youth in the maintenance of peace and security, held in Lafia in partnership with Global Peace Development (GPD) and Beacon Youth Initiative (BYI).

He stressed the need to establish a youth commission that would address the challenges of youths in the state.

According to him, ActionAid under its System and Structure Strengthening Approach Against Radicalisation to Violent Extremism (SARVE II) project, with funding from the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), is currently supporting a bill to establish a Youth Development Commission in the state, to address youth restiveness and other issues affecting them.

Mr Anicetus revealed that UNSCR 2250 first issued on December 9, 2015, was established to give attention to the challenges affecting the participation of youth in peace and security processes across the globe, with youths at the centre stage.

“ActionAid as an organisation is unapologetically a women-centred institution but most recently, we delved into the issues of youth because we have seen that the woman is not at peace when the children are not well taken care of, so children and youth have become one of our focal points, that is why our SARVE II project in Kogi and Nasarawa states is focused on women and youth.

“We came out to support the establishment of a Youth Development Commission that will sustain all of the pluses that we have been able to achieve in the course of our projects and other initiatives we brought in Nasarawa State and the bill has passed first reading and we are optimistic it will scale through in the State House of Assembly,” he added.

Also speaking at the meeting, the initiator of the bill, who is the Deputy Speaker of Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Nehemiah Dandaura, said the bill, when passed into law, would address youth unemployment and other challenges faced by the youths in the state.