News BANJUL THE GAMBIA(MB)- Stakeholders from the government of The Gambia and UNFPA Tuesday gathered at the Sheraton Spa Hotel in Brufut on tuesday 26 January 2010, to review the UNFPA 2007-2011 mid-term supported country programme.
The one-day forum will help both the government and UNFPA to know what has been achieved so far, the constraints and what should be done in order to overcome these challenges so as to achieve the goals and outcomes of the country programme. Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Reuben Mboge, UNFPA assistant representative, thanked the government of The Gambia and other development partners for their unflinching support to the country programme.
According to him, UNFPA Programme of Assistance to The Gambia for the period 2007-2011 was approved by the Executive Board for a total of US$5.5 million which, he said, came as a result of conclusions and recommendations of the evaluation of the 5th Country Population Programme, the Common Country Assessment (CCA) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) in The Gambia in conformity with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and UNFPA Strategies Plan.
Mboge stated that the mid-term review is an essential step in the cycle of UNFPA programme of assistance to countries. He added that it is an exercise undertaken jointly by the Fund and governments and is both a retrospective as well as a prospective exercise.
He further said that the outcome of the forum will provide valuable inputs into the next upcoming CCA, UNDAF and MDGs report. Earlier, in his opening remarks, Ebrima Camara, deputising the secretary general, Office of the President, Dr. Njogu Bah, expressed gratitude for the contribution of the UN Agencies to the socio-economic development of The Gambia, through interventions that are immensely supportive. He also thanked other development partners for their steadfastness in the partnership with the government of The Gambia in driving the countrys development agenda that is already MDG-based, and pro-poor friendly.
He disclosed that the UNFPA assistance to The Gambia started far back in 1972, and the current programme, he said, is the 6th cycle of assistance with overall goal of improving the quality of life and the standard of living for the Gambias population. According to him, the US$5.5million programme is structured around three areas namely: reproductive health; population and development; and gender, which according to him, are importance pillars for poverty reduction, since they represent the cross-cutting dimensions that underpin any serious effort in poverty reduction. He finally assured them of governments continuous commitment towards the successful implementation of the country programme.
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