The Technical Committee of Jobs, Skills and Finance (JSF) for Women and Youth in the Gambia project recently concluded a three-day visit to the project sites in Lower River Region and North Bank Region. The team was led by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Land, Regional Government and Religious Affairs, Buba Sanyang. The JSF project is funded by European Union, and implemented by UNCDF in partnership with Ministry of Land, Regional Government and Religious Affairs through the Department of Community Development.
The three-day visit was meant to assess the progress of the project implementation and to have interface with the key implementing actors at both ward and regional levels. The four-year project which started in 2018 is meant to promote job creation through green and climate resilient local economies, increase employability of youth, women and local communities by providing skills and trainings and to improve access to inclusive finance for women and youth by providing access to financial service.
The project’s implementation activities include vegetable gardening, integrated horticulture farming, construction of boreholes and culverts. Four wards in LRR and four wards in NBR benefited from the project.
Part of the project is to foster and promote the idea of decentralisation.
PS Sanyang affirmed that the project is meant to help the decentralised structures to build their capacities to be able to have skills to carry out other projects in the future. He added that this is part of the Ministry’s decentralisation agenda.
The beneficiaries expressed delight over the implementation of the project as it did not only provide them with what they need but also create job opportunities through ‘cash for work’ initiative and improving their financial statuses.
One of the beneficiaries, Isatou Dibba stated that she was able to establish her own business from the ‘cash for work’ initiative during the implementation of the project.
UNCDF representative, Adama Njie, appealed to the youth and women to take ownership of this project, saying the project is here to empower them both in terms of skills and finance.
Director of NEA, Malick Bah, advised the beneficiaries, especially the Ward Development Committees to properly document any land they are using for communal purpose to avoid any claim on the land in the future by individuals.
The ocuncilor of Prince Ward, Habib Bah, stated that it was through this project that they were able to establish a strong functioning Ward Development Committee which was not possible for years.
The councilor of Bureng Ward, Khadijatou Sabally noted that the construction of the culverts in her ward eased mobility and enable access to basic facilities; such as school and hospital in the communities for students and pregnant women.
The Committee advised the beneficiaries to look for strategic ways to sustain the implemented projects.
The tour ended with a meeting on Sunday in LRR, where the technical committee approved the activity plans for the extension of the project in the four wards in LRR, four wards in NBR, four new wards in CRR, and two wards in CRR North and two wards in CRR South. The next phase of the project is expected to start in December, 2020.