PRO-PAG, an advocacy group, recently ended a two-week campaign with local authorities across the country.
The campaign aimed to mainstream Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) into policies and programmes to accelerate growth and development across the board.
According to the chairperson of PRO-PAG, Madam Adelaide Sosseh, PRO-PAG took it upon itself to engage in a two-week advocacy campaign with local authorities including area councils, ward development committees, and village development committees.
This is meant to look into ways and means of incorporating the MDGs into their programmes and policies, access achievement as well as identify shortfalls as 2015 draws nearer.
"MDGs are of global commitment; therefore the need to ensure that these goals drive down to local communities is paramount," said Madam Sosseh.
The chairperson of the association disclosed that The Gambia had achieved much progress than many African countries with regard to the MDGs. The country, she added, has also incorporated means of eradicating extreme poverty, hunger as well as ensuring environmental sustainability.
She called on other development partners to complement the efforts of the government in the crusade to achieve the MDGs as 2015 draws closer.
She added that the two-week campaign will also delve extensively on the PAGE document to broaden the understanding of the local authorities about it.
"Incorporating the MDGs into policies and programmes cannot be done without the participation of the local authorities," she said. "They must be empowered with the requisite knowledge and ideas of teaching of the goals so that they will be able to disseminate substances entailed in the goals and thereby push these into policies."
Mrs Adelaide Sosseh also revealed that the campaign undertaken was started from Kerewan in the North Bank and has covered all administrative regions in the country.
The activists were calling on participants to make the best use of the confab so that sound policies and programmes of the MDGs can take centre stage in future development endeavours.
Many participants, who spoke to our reporter in Basse, expressed delight at being part of the training.
They commended Pro-PAG for the foresight in improving the lives of Gambian people through their programmes and activities.
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