Two ECOWAS youth volunteers at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games described what the assignment meant to them, as the Games’ second day of operations began.
Nahoussa Robert of Liberia and Cheick Benga of The Gambia are among the young people mobilised by the ECOWAS Centre for Youth and Sport for the event, the first Youth Olympic Games to be held in Africa.
Robert said the experience had widened her sense of what she was representing. “Before coming to Dakar, I was mainly thinking about the honour of representing my country, Liberia.
But here, I realise that I’m also representing an entire region,” she said.
“Every time I help a visitor, explain something about ECOWAS or talk to a young person from another country, I feel that we’re building something bigger than ourselves.”
She framed the region’s differences as a shared asset rather than a barrier. “We have different languages, cultures and backgrounds, but we share the same ambitions: peace, opportunities and a better future for us, the young people,” she said.
Benga, who travelled to Dakar for the Games, said the role had changed how he understood volunteering. “What I’ve learnt from this experience is that volunteering isn’t just a logistical task.
It’s a way of making a difference for your community and your region,” he said. “In Dakar, I see young people from several countries working together, learning together and supporting one another.
This is exactly the West Africa we want to build.”
He said he hoped the sight of young Gambians and other West Africans serving at the Games would encourage others to follow.
“If a young person looks at me today and thinks to themselves that they too can serve, learn and grow, then our presence here will already have made an impact,” he said.
The volunteers’ duties at the venues cover reception, guidance, supervision and logistical support.
Their deployment forms part of a partnership between ECOWAS and the Senegalese National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSS), which provides for twenty-four young volunteers from member states to be sent to the Games.
Between assignments, the volunteers from across the bloc talk about their countries, languages, cultures, sport and future plans, according to the account of their work. The Centre for Youth and Sport coordinated the deployment.
Comments