4.30pm – 8.30pm: Youth Conference on Gangs, Riots and Racism:A unique youth conference that will feature well-known local and national speakers who have either been involved in gangs before or are leading practitioners in the field. Our focus will be on sharing ‘stories of change’ to ‘Inspire Changes’. It is our belief that those who have experienced the challenges of growing up ‘on road’ understand the issues best and are in the most effective position to educate and empower youth facing similar challenges. The conference will is also be an opportunity for young people to contribute during several breakout sessions.Facilitators and presenters that are already confirmed include:

• Twilight Bey (Social Intervention and Gang Specialist, from South Central Los Angeles, worked with Bloods and Crips),
• Robyn Travis (Author, poet. Formerly affiliated with Holley Street, Hackney)
• Harun Miah and Abdul Hannan (Professionals in drug rehabilitation, formerly affiliated with Cannon Street Posse, Tower Hamlets)
• Raymond Douglas (Director of Anti Youth Violence, Leading expert thinker and doer in field of gang crime prevention),
• Sharif Cousins, Dylan Duffus and Shaba (founding members of New Day Foundation, and formerly affiliated with Burger Bar Boys and Johnsons Crew, Birmingham)
• Udjal Kamrujzaman (Social work professional and long serving member of the Aasha team, formerly affiliated with the Brick Lane Massive, Tower Hamlets)
• Dev Barrah (anti-racism campaigner and community activist with decades of experience, Director of Equa-Ed)
• Abu Mu’min (Senior Manager of Osmani Trust, formerly one of the founders of Bengal Tigers gang, Tower Hamlets)

Please click here to register for this free event

Also on the day, we will have several activities you can take part in:

• 11am – 5pm: U16 Football – Osmani Cup 2012 The day will begin with a Football tournament to celebrate the opening of the new Osmani Centre.  Teams from around London will be invited to enter and they will compete in the tournament at the outdoor football pitch on the Osmani Centre premises.
• 2pm – 4pm: Interactive Boxing Exhibition A special exhibition with qualified boxing coaches that is designed to test skills, stamina and discipline.  Young people can get involved in sparring matches or test the strength of punches on a punching machine and see what score they get.
• 2pm – 4pm: Call of Duty MW3 and Fifa 12 championships Two tournaments that will enable young people to compete between each other, test their skills and show off their abilities
• 2pm – 9pm BBQ We will also be hosting an outdoor BBQ and refreshments most of the day so our guests can enjoy freshly grilled burgers.

Please click here to register for this free event

http://assistedlivingtoday.com/p/resources/social-media-is-ruining-our-minds-infographic/

Paintball event bringing together four groups of youth from different areas. Breaking down barriers, developing trust and building alliance in a way that youth understand

Ad – Youth Worker Aug 2011

JD – Youth Worker Post 1

Application Form

Gang and Group Offenders – A Practitioner’s Handbook of ideas and interventions

The Gang and Group Offenders Handbook was launched in August 2010 and has received a great deal of positive feedback. To improve its usefulness and address identified gaps 50 further interventions have been identified from acrossLondon. Some of the additional projects will assist those working with girls and specific cultural groups. There has also been an additional search facility to identify projects by Borough or Pan London use.

Edition 2 is now available for agencies to use in their work with gang and group offenders. The handbook is a live document and will be updated again later this year. There will also be a facility to search for those interventions that have used ‘Project Oracle’ as an assessment tool.

The handbook is for the benefit of those working with Gang and Group Offenders, any additional interventions or training ideas are welcome as well as any feedback.

The ‘Gang and Group Offenders – A Practitioner’s Handbook of Ideas & Interventions’ is available on the new LCJP website:

http://www.londoncjp.gov.uk/

If you use the handbook, please complete the simple feedback tool. This will assist in evaluating its usefulness, and enable any modifications if necessary. Due to the size (over 500 pages), interactive nature and fact that the handbook is a live document it is not available in hard copy or suitable for printing.

For further information, please contact;

Debbie Mackenzie

Metropolitan Police

Specialist Crime Directorate

Deborah.mackenzie@met.police.uk

0207 230 4233

Aasha met with the Minister at his offices near the President of the Gambia Residence.  Aasha interviewed the minister and discussed ways on how it can contribute.

At the Ministers Office

The Minister thanked Aasha for coming to the Gambia for the second time and was happy to hear about the Twinning programme Aasha is starting with a Gambian youth organisation (Save The Youth Action Group).

He supported Aasha and said that The National Youth Council of Gambia will endorse the partnership programme.  The Minister talked about the issues related to drug trafficking in the Gambia and ways on how we can contribute.

Muhammad Rabbani, Aasha: “There Minister for Youth and Sports is thoroughly in touch with the issues that are going on in Gambia and is willing and determined to help find solutions for the youth. He met with us at short notice and openly talked to us about some of the issues and welcomes partnership work which will mtutually benefit the youth of The Gambia and UK.”

"Do you know which way to the Ministry of Youth?"

Sherrif Gomez: We take the opportunity to thank you for joining us at this event.  It’s a bi-annual event to enable us to understand the aspirations and challenges that young people face.  But most importantly, to find out what the wider community can do to guide and guard youth in achieving their objectives in life and to become a contributor to national development.  We hope you’ve been enjoying your stay and we welcome you to The Gambia.

AASHA: Could you tell us a little about yourself?

SG: My background is in the military.  I have been to Pakistan and studied in military academy.  After the army I received my masters from UK in Business Management and did a lot of youth work from ‘97 till today.  I have gone through a series of roles of heading various institutions and organisations here in The Gambia until I took up this current responsibility.

AASHA: What are the greatest challenges facing young people here in The Gambia?

SG: The most profound challenge is dealing with issues in a world that is more globalised and you are not coming out with proper education.  And you are bombarded with messages from everywhere that is confusing to young people.  Although the focus of this year’s conference is on drugs and corruption but the discussion is within a context of culture.  This bombardment of info through electronic media is shifting our young people’s attitudes and culture.  If you don’t understand what is around you, and you don’t know what makes you who you are, it makes you susceptible to problems.

One of those problems is that you believe that it’s only in the West that you can make it.  We have a challenge of getting our youth to get out of the dug-out canoes and from going through perilous journeys trying to get to Europe.  We need to educate them that their goal is here and they need to remain here and develop themselves and their country.

Another key issue is the issue of drugs.  We have seen an increasing trend of drug and drug access across the whole society.  It’s not in isolation but a result of the global trend and global market.  Events taking place in areas such as Afghanistan, Colombia, and so forth are having effects here.  Drug lords are looking for new routes and markets.  Our countries are targets as they have porous borders and lack the security arrangements that exist in places like Europe.

Earlier this year $1bn worth of cocaine was caught on its way into The Gambia.  We believe drugs are already here.  We are seeing an increased involvement of young people.  Overwhelmingly, they are the victims even if some of them happen to be perpetrators too.

AASHA: Is there evidence of gang crime that is linked to the drugs trade here in The Gambia?

SG: Not at all.  We are not into denial but it’s not something that is known here.  Even if there are groups that are operating here, it’s not in the sense of gangs and the way they operate in UK or Europe.  The critical problem would be how do we continue the advocacy around drugs and also implement preventative measures.  Most of the time, the focus would be on discouraging young people and making them aware of the dangers of drugs.

AASHA: Do you think that Gambia could be an example of a drug free state in the future?

SG: I don’t think that anyone can stand up and say that any country is drug free.  Singapore is going in that direction but I’m sure that even they couldn’t confidently say that they’re drug free.  Our trajectory is to make Gambia a drug free state, but it will be a big challenge.

AASHA: Any final words?

SG: We hope the partnership will work and you will find ways of contributing to The Gambian national development through collaborating with our National Youth Council and other youth organisations.

The Chief of Madiana Village is one of the longest serving village chiefs in The Gambia

Aasha visited the different projects of SYAG including the poultry farm, orphanage and some of their new projects including the new poultry farm in Madiana village which collapsed during the monsoon season this year.

The people of Madiana were very welcoming and greeted Aasha with big smiles and gave some traditional food to their guests and some local fruits to take with them.

Muhinur Choudhury, Aasha: “The amazing thing about the visit was that although the youth and the elders do not have the same luxuries as others, they seemed genuinely happier and content with what they have, but at the same time they are determined to make best use of the resources available to them and strive to better the quality of life for themselves”

Aasha Project Manager delivers his address to the delegates at NAYCONF

Muhammad shared some of the real life stories of the UK and talked about the effects of drugs and drugs supply on the user, their families and the community.

He also urged the audience and the Government to tackle this issue while it was still in its early stages by raising public awareness about the drug’s effects and to support projects and organisations who are advocating and lobbying to stop this becoming a crisis.

Muhammad Rabbani also talked about the work they are doing in the UK, the model and practice they have in place to engage, empower and develop the youth of their organisation.

He took questions from the audience and stressed that he is available to meet with organisations and identify ways in which Aasha can contribute to help tackle the above issues along with exploring the MDGs.

In the afternoon Aasha met with the NDMA (National Disaster Management Agency) of The Gambia. They talked about global warming and the affect it is having on The Gambia, they shared with us their strategies and risk management in place.

NDMA helps people look for solution and a way out in disaster situations, especially during the monsoon season. They educate the people by providing workshops and training for example, what to do in a flooding and make them aware to build houses away from the sea.

Muhinur Choudhury, Aasha: “ We mentioned to them if we can contribute in any way and they replied saying we need experienced and trained people to come educate the people of Gambia on how to effectively deal in a disaster situation and so that we have measures in place so that the harm is minimised in the future”

Day Three at the conference started around 11am, today a lot of the ministers were going to be the panelist and will present their support for the youth and take questions from the audience.

More than 200 young people took part in the conference

The Panelists included the following guests:

• Minister for Youth and Sports
• Interior Minister
• Minister for Forestry and environment
• Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries

Each department endorsed the NAYCONF conference and showed their support to the youth of The Gambia. The ministers mentioned ways how the youth can get involved in each department and help build The Gambia into a more successful and achieve economic wellbeing.

Aasha left the conference at approx 3:30pm as there were two more meeting scheduled for the day, first of which was with Lamin Marr, who is the Executive Director of the ‘Save the Youth Action Group (SYAG)’. This is the group Aasha visited when they came to the Gambia in May 2010 and also Aasha is looking to start a twinning partnership with them.

Lamin Marr visited Aasha at our hotel, and we discussed about the current programmes that are running, how the organization structure looks like, and their regular activities. This meeting has been very beneficial as it gave Aasha a very in-depth view in to the structure, activities and the area of work they are into. Also this gave Aasha the opportunity to clearly understand how it can contribute to this group and what shape it might take.

The second meeting was with Lamin Hassan a reformed ex drug user, who presented his story at the conference. Lamin again came to the hotel in Kotu.  Aasha interview was about the life and experience about Lamins life, how he got into drugs and more importantly, how he left that life of drugs and all the negative activities that came with it.

Since quitting drugs, Lamin has been actively campaigning and lobbying to raise awareness of the drugs culture and ill effects on society.

Finally, day three ended at 8pm and Aasha were getting ready for their presentation the next day.