Global
Prosperity and Peace Initiative (GPPI), an International not for-profit
organization with its headquarters in the United States has recently appointed
Mr. Abdoulie Touray, a Gambian, as one of its Prosperity and Peace Ambassadors.
He is the National Peace Ambassador for The Gambia with responsibilities for
building the organization’s programs and activities in country.
With
this appointment, Mr. Touray joins the “Family” of global prosperity and
peace-makers. He carries the mandate to
upscale and optimize grassroots and national efforts to promote peace and
prosperity in the Gambia and he will work with other Peace Ambassadors in 196
countries of the world in particular the Africa region.
In
collaboration with the GPPI Regional Director and GPPI Executive Director, Mr.
Touray will participate in delivering insights and guiding the organizational
partnerships with national and in country regional based institutions,
multi-lateral development institutions, volunteers and philanthropic groups to
advance objectives in GPPI’s focus areas of building, strengthening and
promoting a culture of peace and prosperity worldwide, as well as addressing
GPPI’s goals to bring about Love, Peace and Prosperity on Earth.
Mr.
Abdoulie Touay is a Chartered Consultant. He is also the founder/Chairman of
Sahel Consulting whose major function is building the Economic capacity of
Gambians and others from the West African Sub-region))as well as the President
of Mahatma Gandhi University, The Gambia. He has considerable local and
international experience in investment banking, financial management, private
sector development, and privatization, as well as in public enterprise
management, human resources development, economic management, and
capacity-building.
Mr.
Abdoulie Touray also served as the President of the American Chamber of
Commerce (AmCham), The Gambia. Prior to his founding of Sahel Consulting, Mr.
Touray was the Chief Executive of the former National Investment Board (NIB),
The Gambia’s investment management and promotion agency.
He
earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Management Finance from
Atlanta University, Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Morehouse College in
Atlanta, Georgia, Mr. Touray served, and still serves on numerous Boards of
Directors including as Alternate Governor of the Multi-lateral Investment
Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank Group. His abilities, competence and
achievements are best appreciated in a testimonial from the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID) which states: “Mr. Touray’s
unusual professional competence includes not only a solid grasp of the broad
parameters of private sector economic reform but also the crucial attention to
detail called for in the selection of and negotiation of privatization
contracts’’.
Also,
in the note appointing Mr. Abdoulie Touray, the Founder/Director of Global
Prosperity and Peace Initiative, Dr. Paula Fellingham implicitly appreciated
Mr. Touray as one of the rare like-hearted individuals who can aid in promoting
peace and prosperity around the world. She expressed her enthusiasm about
Touray’s ability, experience and expertise and strongly believes in his ability
to contribute immensely to GPPI’s mission towards bringing peace and prosperity
among peoples and nations of the world.
In
addition to Mr. Touray’s appointment, and in order to boost the vibrancy of the
work of Global Prosperity and Peace Initiative in the African region, Ms.
Coumba Ceesay Marenah, another Gambian was earlier appointed as the
organization’s Regional Prosperity and Peace Director for Africa.
Coumba
Marenah is an Alumnus of the Graduate School at University of Reading, United
Kingdom where she earned her Master’s Degree in Rural Social Development
specializing in Development Planning and Gender in Development. Marenah served
the world’s governing body, the United Nations, in various parts of the world
as a development expert and specialist in Gender, Human Rights, Empowerment of
Women, among others; in Maldives, South Sudan, Ethiopia, among others. She is
reputed for volunteering her time, talent and passion to improve the lives of
millions of people. Among the organizations she volunteered in includes RESULTS
an advocacy group that engage with Senators, Congressmen/women and other key
organizations to provide policy directions and funding on key issues eradicate
poverty. Every year, Coumba and other
RESULTS members attend the Annual conference in Washington DC and also hold
meetings with the policy makers at Capitol Hill. Coumba’s contributions at such meetings is
always highly valued.
In
the Gambia, Coumba held various leadership positions in the over 25 years’
service. She was Minister for Health, Social Welfare and
Women’s Affairs, Deputy Head of the National Women’s Bureau, first female
Cooperative Secretary to handle a Marketing Society, Head of the Women’s
Programme unit of the Government Department of Community Development, Board
member of the Gambia Family Planning Association, Board member of the World
Vision Gambia branch among others. She was also a board member of the Alaska
Immigration Justice Program the only NGO in Alaska that advocate for immigrants
to legally settle in Alaska. Coumba is also one of the founding members of
African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) and the Vice
Chairperson responsible for West Africa from 1987 to 1998 before she joined the
United Nations. FEMNETa pan-African
organization working to advance women’s rights in five key areas: leadership
and governance, economic empowerment, sexual and reproductive health and rights
(SRHR), women in the media, and institutional strengthening of women’s rights
groups.
Coumba
has represented the Gambia in several International and National fora where she
presented key policy documents that forms part of regional and global
policies. These include the World Social
Summit in Copenhagen in 1995, where she presented the Gambia’s position paper;
the World Health Assembly Geneva in 1995 as the Chairperson of the West African
Health Community where she presented the Community’s position; 1977 Africa
Regional Conference in Mauritania, reviewing progress made since establishment
of the International Women’s Decade and also establishment of the CSO
forum. As Deputy Head of the Women’s
Bureau she also provided support to the First Ladies and accompanied them at
their Conferences, since the Gambia’s First Republic.
Ms.
Marenah’s assignment carries the mandate to upscale and optimize efforts to promote peace and prosperity in
the African region including the Gambia, as well as providing the platform that
will promote and sustain the work of GPPI in partnership with stakeholders and
other relevant institutions, participate in delivering insights and guiding the
organizational partnerships with national and regional governments,
multi-lateral development institutions, volunteers and philanthropic groups to
advance objectives in GPPI’s focus areas of building, strengthening and
promoting a culture of peace and prosperity worldwide, as well as addressing
GPPI’s goals to bring about Love, Peace and Prosperity on Earth.
