A
three-day training for community mediators recently ended at the governor’s
office in Brikama, West Coast Region.
The
capacity building workshop was organised by the Alternative Dispute Resolution
System (ADRS) through the Access to Justices and Legal Education project
bankrolled by European Union.
The
participants of the training were drawn from within the communities in West
Coast regionand representatives of district tribunals.
The
training was designed to expose the participants to ADR skills and techniques
and to facilitate their work efficiently.
Speaking
on the occasion, Janet Ramatoulie Sallah-Njie said the project aims to
contribute to better democratic and economic governance in The Gambia through
improving access to justice and legal education.
One
of the components of the project is to improve the alternative dispute
resolution system in the system in The Gambia.
“Alternative
dispute resolution is recognised as an effective and efficient means of
facilitating access to justice without the attendant cost, complications and
inflexibilities of the formal court system,” Mrs Sallah-Njie said.
“The training will also help build a critical
mass of qualified and competent community mediators in order to facilitate and
improve service delivery to vulnerable people within the communities.”
West
Coast Region deputy Governor Musa Suso said the training was an opportunity for
the trainees to get requisite knowledge in mediation.
“The
training will undoubtedly equip you [the participants] with the relevant knowledge
to enable you to effectively conduct mediations between and among parties,” he
said.
The
deputy governor said mediation through ADR is a better way of solving community
problems as it ensures that relations are not broken down and family ties remains
to be.
EU
Ambassador to The Gambia Attila Lajos said the EU-funded project took a
holistic approach for improving all aspects of the justice delivery system in
The Gambia.
A
review of the ADR system in The Gambia was carried out within the project and
it highlighted that community mediators provide a very vital and effective
service in resolving disputes in their communities.
The
review findings indicated that the form of mediation adopted by community
mediators is more akin to the traditional form of dispute resolution, and
community members find it much easier to respect agreements reached through the
community mediation system.
The
EU diplomat said training the community mediators is therefore “highly
instrumental” to improve service delivery to vulnerable people within the
communities, and to support the justice system in The Gambia.
“Championing
human rights and justice for all must be a national priority now and the EU is
fully committed and engaged to support the new government in creating the ‘New
Gambia’,” he said.
“I
am very confident that this project will be extremely useful to support this
process of democratic transition.”
