Recalling
the tragedy off the coast of Mauritania last year in December where over 60
young people from Gambia and neighburing countries died in a capsized boat on
their way to Europe through ‘backway’, the EU ambassador to The Gambia has
expressed his sincere condolences to all those who had unfortunately lost a
loved one in the mishap.
Addressing
December 4 2019 (D4.19) Association of Survivors & Victim Families at the
just concluded second edition of Niumi Barra Fort Bullen Festival on Friday, 28
February, in Barra, Attila Lajos said the tragedy has pushed many people to
think of many questions.
“The
tragedy pushed many of us to reflect on many questions (which include) how
could this be happening in the New Gambia? Who has been complicit and enabling
such tragedy to happen? And most importantly – what needs to be done to prevent
such a tragedy from occurring again?” Ambassador Lajos rhetorically asked.
The
ambassador noted that with EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, the EU is
supporting 5 projects to the tune of 2.1 billion dalasis (37.9 million Euros).
With
the support of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative, he said, “many Gambia men and women
have returned home safely from Libya and Niger, and more than 3,000 have
received support to reintegrate into their communities and many efforts have
been made to build a clearer understanding of what really happens along the
backway journey.”
Recently,
he went on, the project has provided psycho-social sessions aimed at providing
psycho-social support to returnees from the communities of Essau, Barra and
Medina Serrign Mass.
Other
four projects being implemented under the Tekki Fii umbrella are provision of
training and employment opportunities for young Gambian men and women. “These
projects are being implemented in the North Bank Region. Examples are
rebuilding the youth centre in Farafenni, 19 small businesses in NBR received
YEP mini-grants and 4 other business benefitted from YEP mini-loans,” he
disclosed.
In
addition to the above, EU-IOM Joint Initiative implementing partners are
supporting agricultural employment in the region, such as in neighboring
Buniadu with the construction of garden walls, support to 104 women working in
the vegetable garden through agricultural inputs and tools.
Dilating
on the Niumi Fort Bullen Festival, he described cultural heritage as an
important component of economic development even “more so in The Gambia due to
its links with the tourism sector.”
He
said further that the Heritage Festival can help to preserve and promote
cultural heritage of The Gambia. And it “can certainly support the
repositioning of The Gambia on the tourism map, from a winter sun destination
to a year-round, diversified destination rich with creative experiences and
cultural adventures,” he noted.
The
EU ambassador also affirmed the European Union’s values of creative industries
in The Gambia under its development support, as the EU-funded Youth Empowerment
Project has already provided substantial support to different creative sectors
of the economy. These among others include traditional crafts, cultural
heritage such as the Kankurang through the revival of the Janjangbureh
Kankurang Festival.
