 |
| English: Logo of The Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) Русский: Логотип Межправительственной группы по борьбе с отмыванием денег в Западной Африке (ГИАБА) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The
Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA)
will on Thursday mobilize youths against organised crime by targeting their
attitudes, behaviors and beliefs.
The agency’s 7th
Edition Open House Forum is slated for July 25, 2013 at the Miatta Conference
Centre in Freetown, Republic of Sierra Leone.
It will provide an
opportunity for youths to embark on advocacy by helping to disseminate
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing Terrorism (AML/CFT) messages among
their peers and political decision-makers, thereby becoming important policy
advocates, GIABA said.
The Open House Forum
is designed to provide GIABA with a platform to sensitize and involve the
youths as part of concerted efforts aimed at combating organized crime, which
has become a major threat to development and security in the West Africa
region.
150 youths from
different sectors are expected to attend the 7th Edition on the
theme “Mobilizing Youths against Organized Crime”.
They include youths
from Universities and Institutions of higher learning, sports and cultural
associations, political parties and religious associations, representatives of
civil society organizations and professional associations, banks, insurance
companies, media houses, and the Diplomatic Corps.
Gbola Adiamoh, GIABA
Communications Assistant, said protecting the youths and guaranteeing them a
future in an economically prosperous region have become the priorities of
ECOWAS in the wake of regional integration.
“Thus, developing the
capacity of the youth and empowering them for future leadership would require
concerted efforts at both national and individual levels. It is important that
youths are therefore educated and sensitized on the essence of combating
organized crime in all its forms and ramifications,” he added.
Since 2007, the
anti-money laundering agency has been organizing Open Houses for youths as part
of efforts to involve all stakeholders in the fight against the twin crimes
AML/CFT in West Africa.
The outcomes of the
previous editions corroborate the conclusions of the report of the evaluation
of GIABA’s 2007-2009 Strategic Plan, which revealed the huge capacity gap among
the various strata in the society on AML/CFT issues, the Dakar-based agency
noted.
In the subsequent
2011-2014 Strategic Plan, GIABA therefore acknowledged the need to improve the
sensitization of youths in member States in order to enhance their
understanding of AML/CFT issues, thereby positioning them as champions of good
governance.
At the end of the
event, it is expected that youths would form a well-organized and highly
sensitized alliance on AML/CFT regimes; that the number of people particularly
youths that have a thorough understanding of the consequences of AML/CFT would
increase; that there would be more effective collaboration in AML/CFT; and that
there would be better understanding of the repercussions of money laundering
and terrorist financing.
Written by Modou S. Joof
Follow on Facebook: The-North-Bank-Evening-Standard
No comments:
Post a Comment
The views expressed in this section are the authors' own. It does not represent The North Bank Evening Standard (TNBES)'s editorial policy. Also, TNBES is not responsible for content on external links.