ActionAid International The Gambia has begun a three-day
stakeholder consultation as part of a process for the development of its fourth
Country Strategy Paper, CSP IV. The consultation began on Monday 9 July at
TANGO.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Executive Director of ActionAid Dr. Kujejatou Manneh urged ActionAid partners to contribute immensely to the development of the agency’s fourth Country Strategy Paper.
She noted that the current CSP ends in December this year and a new one is expected to commence in January 2013.
‘It is therefore customary that every five years AAITG develops a new CSP that guides its work for the period’.
Dr. Manneh disclosed that over the past few months, ActionAid has been engaged in a series of consultations across the country with village groups, apexes, CBOs, TACs, local government authorities and other partners to hear their views about how AAITG performed during the past five years, their development challenges and priorities for the next five years taking into account key issues raised by the communities, the national strategy (PAGE) and the AAI strategy.
Noting that eradicating poverty is a broad basket, Kuje Manneh said that “nonetheless, we should be able to align the objectives to the new ActionAid International’s global strategy”.
ActionAid’s deputy director and head of programmes, Omar Badji, who chaired the opening ceremony welcomed partners to the meeting, and urged them to make maximum use of the opportunity provided to make their inputs to the CSP development process.
Speaking earlier, the Vice Chairperson of the Tango Board of Directors, Jainaba Nyang-Njie, emphasized the importance of the country strategy paper to partners, particularly to Tango, saying that Tango can only be as strong as its membership.
She welcomed the development of ActionAid’s CSP, which she noted will guide the work of the agency with partners for the next five years.
The Executive Director of Tango Ousman Yarbo described the workshop as an important milestone in the development process of ActionAid’s country strategy paper.
During the three-day consultation, there will be presentations on the findings from consultations with partners in the Greater Banjul Area, the urban, peri-urban and rural areas.
Presentations will also be made on the national Programme for Accelerated Growth and Employment (PAGE), and the strategic objectives and promises of ActionAid International after which work groups will be formed to deliberate on the issues raised and align them with community expectations, ActionAid’s global objectives and the government’s development blueprints.
