The official signing ceremony was executed at the Peace Building at the administrative campus of the UTG at Kanifing, MDI Road.
“Today is a historic day as we go into an agreement, memorandum of understanding, between the University of the Gambia and The World Food Programme. The MoU supposed to be based on mutual interest, on guiding us in achieving our sustainable development goals and working towards the national development plan of the Gambia,” said Matida Komma, marketing officer, UTG Directorate of Research and Consultancy.
“This, the university of the Gambia is grateful for as it is opening its doors to partnerships with international bodies such as the WFP and we are really grateful for having such an opportunity.”
She reiterated that the University of The Gambia’s doors are open for the networking and the development of both its staffs and students.
“Today will be the official signing of the memorandum of understanding which is going to officiate the partnership between the two institutions and we are really hopeful that the partnership will be one of mutual benefit, where both institutions will benefit from each other, and also extend its invitations to collaborate with other further agencies to ensure that we realise our goals, our objectives and also the strategic development plan of the university of The Gambia.”
“The UTG, as we all know, is growing and we are really happy to have such initiatives because as we open and widen our tentacles, we are willing to add more knowledge through research creation and capacity building and ensuring that we play a key role in the national development plan of the country by shaping and informing of policy makers, which are all geared towards the national development goals and the betterment of the Gambian population,” she concluded.
The UTG Vice Chancellor Prof. Pierre Gomez, said: “We are gathered here this afternoon to witness the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding between the UN-WFP and The UTG on areas of pertinent interest to both parties. This MoU will avail the two parties the opportunity to collaborate on areas such as: Assessment and Data Collection, Research and Policy Analysis, Innovation and Capacity Development, Paid Graduate Scheme/Internship, among others.”
“Living in a world filled with a myriad of socio-economic challenges, there is an ardent need for a well-educated populace and deepened bilateral and multi-lateral relationships among countries and institutions. These are prerequisites to global confidence and a guarantee for the hope for sustainable global peace and food self-sufficiency, without which development is a façade.”
“Knowing the indispensability of education (Higher Education in particular), academics and higher education institutions are paramount in the realisation of global food self-sufficiency and the eradication of hunger; a drive being championed by the WFP. Man is a social being and as such needs to relate with other social beings to build a progressive and a hunger-free society. Like man, institutions and nations equally need collaborators and partners for their advancement. Cognizant of this fact, the University of The Gambia is pleased to be signing the MoU with the WFP to contribute its quota in the drive for a hunger-free society.”
“On behalf of the entire University community, I wish to sincerely thank the WFP for accepting us as a partner. I also wish to assure them of our commitment towards making this collaboration a very productive, resourceful and viable one. In the same vein, I express my sincere thanks and appreciation to the UTG Relations Directorate for making this partnership a reality. On that note, I wish both UTG and WFP a successful signing ceremony and a fruitful partnership,” he ended.
Mr. Yasuhiro Tsumura, WFP representative and country director, also expressed delight and gratefulness for the landmark achievement. He commended and hailed the occasion, saying that this would contribute to the achievement of the national development plan.
He made it known that WFP is now not only engaged on matters related to food, but, other key areas as well such as education and that the signing and officiating of an MoU between his institution and the UTG would help in boosting that.
