Speaking at the opening ceremony, the permanent secretary, Department of Strategic Policy and Delivery (DSPD) under the Ministry of Public Service, Alieu Loum, acknowledged UNICEF's role in supporting the government's efforts in enhancing public service delivery.
PS Loum stressed the importance of collaboration and alignment of goals between government agencies and international organisations to ensure the effective implementation of development initiatives.
For her part, UNICEF country director – The Gambia Office, Nafisa Binte Shafique, welcomed the participants to the meeting while emphasising the significance of the partnership between UNICEF and the government of The Gambia in advancing the welfare of children and families.
She highlighted the agenda's focus on strategic planning and sectoral priorities for 2024, aimed at improving health, education, and social protection systems.
Director of Delivery at the Department of Strategic Policy and Delivery (DSPD), Amet Sallah, said the event was a key milestone of the Country’s Programme (2024 – 2028) process.
Director Sallah explained the objective of the review meeting which he said was to provide an opportunity for the stakeholders to take stock of experiences (achievements and challenges) as well as reflection of key lessons learnt from programme implementation and agree on ways in which they can jointly accelerate the achievement of the desired results for children of our country.
“The mid-year meeting was also significant in terms of reviewing the proposed Country Programme 2024 – 2028 Coordination Mechanism setup and steering committees’ formation,” Sallah informed.
With this setup Director Sallah added that DSPD and UNICEF look forward to supporting the implementation of the country programme in partnership with all partners to strategically accelerate achievements of the desired results for children.
The meeting was attended by sector focal points, implementing partners, civil society organisations, youths and local government authorities among others.
