In 2021 the MSDG Project and the National Council for Arts\and Culture (NCAC) were engaged in discussions and consultations that have now resulted to a five hundred thousand Dalasi project funding to facilitate and optimise the contribution and engagement of the Gambian diaspora in different forms of cultural heritage, creative and artistic development. The project will mainly relate to training and capacity development towards entrepreneurship and employability.
It is also meant to also facilitate research, preservation and support to female professionals in the cultural creative industries with skills and knowledge to strengthen their status as female CCI professionals.
The NCAC MSDG partnership has been encapsulated in a Framework Agreement signed between the 2 institutions in 2022 at the NCAC headquarters at the National Museum in Banjul.
“The MSDG support to the CCI sector through this funding is critical, timely and will surely create new vistas for more funding for the CCIs”, said Hassoum Ceesay, Director General, NCAC, at the signing ceremony.
He explained that priority areas that this co-financing will cover include upskilling 30 youth guides active in earning their livelihoods interpreting The Gambia’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites to enable them imbibe new techniques in customer care and also refresh their knowledge about the significance of the Gambian World Heritage Sites. “There will also be emphasis on equipping professionals in the CCIs to acquire project writing skills to enable them access grants and similar funding,” Ceesay added.
MSDG Country Technical Director Ndumbeh Saho and Associate Director were present at the signing ceremony.