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Momodou
Denmark
11634 Posts |
 Posted - 22 May 2018 : 20:17:56
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http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-3865_en.htm
European Commission - Press release
EU mobilises international support for The Gambia
Brussels, 22 May 2018
A total of €1.45 billion were mobilised by the International Conference for The Gambia, co-chaired by The Gambia and the European Union.
The reinforced political and financial support by the international community will assist The Gambia in continuing its democratic transition, building on strong democratic institutions, the respect of human rights and the rule of law, and sustainable and shared economic growth.
High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini, who co-chaired the conference together with the President of The Gambia, Adama Barrow, in Brussels today, said: "The Gambia is showing to the world that freedom and democracy are about real people and real lives. After the presidential election in 2016, neighbours and the international community stood with the Gambian people. We stood on the side of freedom and democracy. Two years on, we continue to stand by your side. Today the EU is proud to announce €140 million to invest in opportunities for the Gambian people and further strengthen democracy”.
Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, added: "When people of a country decide to overturn a two-decades long dictatorship, this is a choice to commend. This is what happened in The Gambia one year and a half ago. When new authorities commit to profoundly reform the country and put it on the path of democracy and development, the international community has to answer their call. This is what happened today in Brussels. Out of the €1.45 billion that were pledged today, the EU has committed additional funding of €140 million until 2020, which adds to the €225 million mobilised since the beginning of the transition in 2017. Because nothing is more important today than showing to the people of The Gambia that democracy brings quick and tangible dividends."
Key outcomes of the conference are:
Reinforced political support to The Gambia: A joint communiqué by the co-chairs was issued, reaffirming support and solidarity in assisting the transition from a dictatorship to a fully-fledged democracy.
Increased financial assistance for development: The €1.45 billion pledged will help cover needs identified for donor support to The Gambia's National Development Plan.
The International Conference for The Gambia will be followed by a Business Forum tomorrow, which will bring together interested European, regional and Gambian business representatives for exchanges on sector-specific strategies and projects during panel discussions on Energy & Infrastructure, Agricultural Value Chains, and Tourism.
Background
Following the end of 22 years of authoritarian rule by former President Yahya Jammeh with the change of government in January 2017, the EU and The Gambia have opened a new chapter in their relations. An intense political dialogue is ongoing at all levels, and the EU is actively supporting the democratic transition in co-ordination with other international partners of The Gambia. Areas of co-operation include e.g. security, development for sustainable growth, transitional justice, economic partnership, trade, fisheries and migration.
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11634 Posts |
Posted - 22 May 2018 : 22:27:35
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Gambia - EU Donor Conference
Vigilance and Transparency
By Madi Jobarteh
It has been reported today that 1.45 billion euros was pledged at the donors conference for The Gambia for the next three years. From the communique it is clear that the EU is not the main donor because they are only providing 140 million euros in grants, in addition to the 225 million euros they have already committed.
Do we know how much of that 225 million euros is already disbursed and where and how it is being spent?
While this is a legitimate matter that citizens have a right to know, we must at the same time raise more other questions, issues and concerns!
For example how well structured and prepared is our Government to receive this monies in implementing the NDP? In other words how good and competent are our policies, laws, institutions and personnel to perform knowing where we came from in these past 22 years?
Where you have Yaya Jammeh enablers all over tg civil service coupled with political appointments of the current government itself, how competent and interested are those public officers to ensure that they don’t sabotage or undermine or just seek their self aggrandizement and cause the NDO to fail?
Therefore how well is President Barrow himself actively vigilant and committed to accountability within the system to ensure that public officers perform well?
What ethics and values inform and guide our public institutions and officials - from the president to the Speaker to the Chief Justice as a whole down to all of the officers under them to abide by the rule of law and demonstrate the highest standards of honesty, responsibility and efficiency to deliver the NDP to the highest expectations of our people?
In this regard the role and contribution of citizens and CSOs to hold the government to account is urgent in order to helping them to succeed. How vigilant are citizens to demand information, services and performance?
Thus, while we celebrate the outcome of this donor conference let us remember that this money and the NDP are about the life and death of Gambians! We must be vigilant and active in tracking the Government in how it uses these loans and grants. We must bear in mind that if we fail to make good use of this money then we will not only impoverish ourselves more but we would be also harming future generations who will come to only find a deplorable Gambia and a huge debt to pay.
For that matter let us ask more questions about this donor conference and the nature and scope of monies that are pledged. Basic questions should include:
1. Which governments and organizations are the pledge makers?
2. How much of the 1.45 billion euros constitute loan and grant?
3. How and when will the loans and grants flow to The Gambia Government?
4. What exact tools and processes are put in place to ensure effective monitoring of the resources and implementation of NDP?
For The Gambia Our Homeland |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 23 May 2018 : 19:01:23
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I refer the Honorable reader to the listed items in the last paragraph in the post above !  |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Edited by - toubab1020 on 23 May 2018 19:01:43 |
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toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 23 May 2018 : 19:09:14
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The Report in The Standard newspaper on this EU Donor Conference
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May 23, 2018
The international community has pledged a total of EUR 1.45 billion to The Gambia for the next 3 years of which the EU is contributing EUR 140 million in grants.
The grants come on top of the EUR 225 million already committed.
This development was revealed in Brussels where the European Union yesterday hosted a donor conference for The Gambia
According to a statement from the organizers, during the conference, the Government of The Gambia confirmed its commitment to transforming the country into a new Gambia: a country with strong democratic institutions that respects and protects human rights, and enjoys economic growth and sustainable development. Laws establishing a Human Rights Commission, a Constitutional Reform Commission and a Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission have been passed; a thorough security sector reform is being prepared as well.
The new government, true to its commitments, took decisive steps including in reaffirming its membership of the ICC. The conference provided an excellent opportunity to the international community to express its support, both at political level and in financial terms, to The Gambia that is undergoing a historic democratic transition. The commitment of the Gambian government to transform the country to a “new Gambia” and a beacon of democracy was saluted by all. The gathering also reconfirmed the important role of joint efforts by domestic, regional and international actors in supporting the country in its journey towards democracy, stability and sustainable development.
Together with other international organizations, the EU has stood by the side of The Gambia through political and financial support and remains committed to continuing this support. The current government has inherited an unsustainable debt situation, which severely limits the funding of the Country’s National Development Plan, the launching of necessary reform initiatives and the swift achievement of tangible improvements in the living conditions of the population. This situation implies the need for raising grants or highly concessional borrowing to contribute to the funding of the National Development Plan while reducing debt vulnerabilities.
The Conference confirmed that it is crucial for the country to have the necessary means to further pursue reforms and investments in services and infrastructures that will allow tangible improvements, in particular concerning job creation.
The Government of The Gambia and the European Union extended gratitude to the participants of this conference for their important political and financial contribution in support of the democratic and economic transition in The Gambia.
http://standard.gm/site/2018/05/23/gambia-to-get-e1-45-billion/ |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Momodou
Denmark
11634 Posts |
Posted - 24 May 2018 : 08:30:29
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Donor Conference not begging, it’s to fix a broken economy: Minister Jawo
The Point: Wednesday, May 23, 2018
http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/donor-conference-not-begging-its-to-fix-a-broken-economyminister-jawo
The Information and Communication Minister Demba Ali Jawo says the International Donor Conference for The Gambia in Brussels was not to beg but to help fix a broken economy.
Jawo in an exclusive interview with The Pont said: “It’s not a question of begging,” when told that’s how critics see the conference. “It’s a question of being realistic. The reality on the ground is that The Gambia inherited a broken economy and we need international assistance to fix that,” he said. “As well as to carry out the very comprehensive programmes the government has. So it’s just a question of capitalising the international goodwill to get some assistance from them.”
The conference which is jointly organised by The Gambia government and the European Union (EU) was to be co-chaired by President Barrow along with EU’s Federica Mogherini.
Asked what The Gambia has to put to donors, the veteran journalist said “what we going to put forward is the National Development Programme which is very comprehensive.” He continued: “We will put it to them that we got a very comprehensive programme in place but we’ll need assistance to implement it.”
According to the government spokesperson Minister Jawo, the expectations for donor conference were high.
“The expectations are really very high because as you know The Gambia has got a lot of international goodwill and we expect that international goodwill to be translated into pledges,” he noted. “At the end of the day, definitely we have high expectations that things will go the way we anticipated it to be.”
When asked if he knows how many countries are willing to make a pledge, the information minister said it would be difficult to say how many countries are willing to make a pledge and how much they are willing to pledge. He, however, said they are very hopeful that the conference would be a success.
Author: Sankulleh Gibril Janko |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 24 May 2018 : 16:21:48
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| Keep it up Momodou, interesting stuff,things MUST change in Gambia from the ways they were in the past,nepotism being one of the main causes of a great many problems. |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jun 2018 : 22:02:38
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This report was not given the attention it should have been given because of the sad and tragic events at Faraba on the same day.
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Monday, June 18, 2018
The presidency through its Press Director Amie Bojang Sissoho has said a special committee which involves the Office of the President and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs is tasked to monitor the 1.45 Billion Euros pledge made on The Gambia.
“The office of the president as you may know and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs have set up a committee that will be monitoring the National Development Plan that is one of the roles of the Office of the President,” Mrs. Sissoho said. “And to do the monitoring, the committee has been tasked to ensure that the pledges that have been made at Brussels International Conference made for The Gambia are followed and steps are taken to ensure that the programme is implemented”
The press director was urged to give more details about what she meant monitoring the 1.45 billion Euros and she said it consist of different components.
“It consists of different components. You have loans and you have grants but most of it is grants.” She continued, “some are in cash, some are in kind, so that is why when the government came back from the meeting, they set up a committee to go and map out the pledges, where is grant, where it is loan and what areas the grants and loans are for. Whether its agriculture; whether its health; whether its fisheries wherever so that when those are mapped out, now the next step will be to ensure that the implementation takes place.”
Asked if she could tell how much money was pledged in cash and in kind, the press director said: “No, I cannot tell you that because the technicians have to sit down and work out and go through the pledges one by one to determine which one is cash, and which one is kind. Then whether its technical assistance or whatever, whether it’s in other forms that will be determined.
She said, “when they determine that, that is when they will be able to present that information to us”
It could be recalled that on 22nd of May 2018 an International Donor Conference was made on The Gambia co-chaired by President Adama Barrow in Brussels and the international community pledged 1.45 billion Euros as their support to the country’s National Development Plan (NDP) for 2018-2021.
Author: Sankulleh Gibril Janko
http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/special-committee-tasked-to-monitor-the-145b-euros-pledge |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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| Bantaba in Cyberspace |
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EU Commission: Press release
