The Country Director of Child Fund in The Gambia, Mr. Ustace Cassel has challenged parents to actively participate in the development of their children through enrolment in school, which he described as an essential component.
Mr. Cassel, who was speaking at the closing of a ten-day capacity building for councillors on the new Local Government Act, said as a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) or Community Based Organisation, they see no reason why they should not take part in nation-building.
The training programme, which was organised by the Child Fund and funded by the Community Driven Development Project (CDDP) was held at the Brikama Child Fund office.
Mr. Cassel expressed gratitude to the government under the leadership of President Jammeh, the Department of Community Development and the World Bank for allowing Child Fund to take part in such activities.
"We have been here for the past twenty-five years, struggling with people in the community and they have helped improved the situation, which was very terrible and learned from them," he said, adding that Child Fund wants to open up to participate in other avenues of national development
According to him, the training is very important in the sense that it would enable the participants take their responsibility into their own hands.
The Child Fund, Country Director also stressed the need for the involvement of the National Assembly Members, opinion leaders and other stakeholders in such forums to enable them filter the massage during their session.
He commended the participants for their commitment and cooperation during the training, noting that his office is always open for close collaboration.
For his part, Tasmir Cham, Area Manager Ding-Ding Bantaba said the training was a clear indication that the participants are committed to nation-building. He noted that the document that has been reviewed during the ten-day programme is partly political, but 90% of it is for development. He added that the way the document is being formulated is to ensure sustainability in the development of our community.
He described the document as a very important document, as far as the development of the country is concerned.
Also speaking at the closing ceremony, Mamadou Jallow, the Area Manager for Samasang and Kaira Nyining in Brikama applauded CDDP for sponsoring the training, noting that the importance of building the capacity of the councillors on the Local Government Act cannot be over-emphasised.
Other speakers included Dawda Jallow, the Programme Officer for National Council for Civic Education, who also commended the participants for their interaction.