Dr. Touray was appointed by the group during celebrations marking international day on z ero tolerance on Female Genital Mutilation at a ceremony held in Barra.

In presenting the colanut to Dr. Touray, symbolizing the appointment, Mrs. Aja Mai Chareh, vice chairperson of the group, said her organization has recognized the vital role Dr. Touray is playing in national development and that working with her will no doubt serve as a boost for them. “We have been hearing about you and we know your potential, thus the reason for your appointment,” she said.

Reacting to the gesture, the SAHAF adopted mother thanked the group for the trust and confidence bestowed on her and her organization. She reaffirmed her organizations commitment in empowering young people.

Meanwhile, speaking to the Youth Forum after the ceremony, Mr. Muhamed Bangura, coordinator of SAHAF, said that they formed the association in the year 2001 with the aim of creating awareness among the youth of the area. “We empowered them with skills to enable them to contribute to national development so that they can serve as an asset for the community and country as a whole instead of serving as a liability,” he said.

According to him, if young people are not skillful they cannot all get job but if they learn skills they can become self employed.

He used the opportunity to appeal to the development partners to help his group revive the skills training programmes especially the computer training one which, according to him, was halted due to a lack of finance to pay the rental fee of the centre. “Really speaking the rental fee for the centre and salary for our trainers are our main constraints and we solicit support from the government and other development partners,” he said. He commended the youth of the area for their commitment for their own development.