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| Cross section of participants at the 7th edition of the GIABA Open House Forum in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 2013 (Photo Credit: GIABA) |
The 9th Edition of its Open House Forum to be held in Banjul,
The Gambia on July 26, 2016 “will target the attitudes, behaviours and beliefs”
of the youths.
It will also “provide an opportunity for youths to embark on advocacy by
helping to disseminate anti- Money Laundering and Counter Financing
of Terrorism (AML/CFT) messages to their peers and political decision-makers,
thereby becoming important policy advocates.”
More than 100 youths are expected to attend the forum in Banjul on the
theme “The Role of Youths in Combating Transnational Organized Crime.”
They will be drawn from universities and institutions of higher
learning, sports and cultural associations, youth groups and religious
associations.
Representatives of civil society organisations and associations, banks,
insurance companies, media houses, and the diplomatic corps will also be
involved.
The organiser, GIABA, said organised crime, has become a major threat to
development and security in the region.
“Protecting the youths and guaranteeing them a future in an economically
prosperous region have become priorities for ECOWAS in the wake of regional
integration,” it said in a July 15 pre-event statement.
According to the Dakar-based anti-ML/TF agency, developing the capacity
of the youth and empowering them for future leadership would require concerted
efforts at both national and individual levels.
It said these youths therefore need to be educated and sensitized to the
essence of combating organized crime in all its forms and ramifications.
GIABA has been organising open house fora for youths since 2007 in order
to involve all stakeholders in the fight against ML/TF in West Africa.
It said the outcomes of the previous editions revealed a huge gap, in
terms of capacity, among the various strata in the society on issues relating
to AML and CFT.
It has also noted there is a need to improve on capacity building for
youths in member States to enhance their understanding of AML and CFT regimes
This will position them as “champions of good governance”, the agency
said.
The forum
is expected to culminate in the youths constituting a well-organized and highly
sensitized alliance against ML and TF.
It is also expected that the number of people, particularly youths, that
have a thorough understanding of the consequences of ML and TF would increase
and that there would be more effective collaboration in AML/CFT efforts, GIABA
said.
GIABA is a specialized institution of ECOWAS and a Financial Action Task
Force–Styled Regional Body (FSRB) responsible for combating the scourge of money
laundering and terrorist financing in the sub-regional economic bloc.
It was established by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS
in 2000 with the mandate to protect the national economies and the financial
systems of member States from abuse and the laundering of the proceeds of
crimes.
Written by Modou S. Joof
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