The Secretary General and Head of Civil Service, Ousman Jammeh, on Monday presided over the opening of the validation seminar of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF 2012-2016) at the Atlantic Hotel in Banjul.
The forum attracted participants from the civil society and other sectors with funding from the United Nations and other development partners.
In his opening statement on the occasion, Mr Jammeh said the event marked another milestone in enduring partnership between the Government of The Gambia and the UN System.
The purpose of the forum, he said, was to review, comment and validate both the UNDAF result-based management matrix and its accompanying narratives.
The UNDAF 2012 2016 is the United Nations partnership strategic plan between the UN and the Government of The Gambia, Mr Jammeh said, adding that the forum was held to create an environment conducive for active participation across the board in the UNDAF process and to take on board all shades of views of relevant stakeholders of the UNCT, the government, donors, and the civil society.
The Gambia’s SG said: “It is important to note that the preparation of the UNDAF result-based management matrix and its accompanying narratives have undergone thorough stakeholders consultative process, which started with the common country assessment, and more recently the review of the document by a much smaller UNDAF taskforce, comprising senior officials from both the UN Agencies, donor groups, the Government of The Gambia, the NGO community, civil society, and among others.”
He also said it is gratifying to note that the UNDAF will contribute towards the achievement of some priority areas of the country’s national development agenda that relates to the MDGs and other internationally agreed development goals.
“As a nation, we are indeed aware of the many daunting challenges that lie ahead in our process of development in view of the global financial crisis that has recently beset even developed economies in the West and their ramifications for the global economy,” Mr Jammeh noted.
“We continue to pursue our open door policy with the UN System, and we always look forward to further strengthening of the traditional cooperation that exists between the UN family and the Gambia Government.”
Other speakers on the occasion included the FAO country representative to The Gambia, and the Secretary to the Cabinet, who all applauded the participants for actively taking part in the session.
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