The recipient institutions include, United Nations Transitional Justice (UNTJ), International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) and Catholic Relief Service (CRC).
The award was a show of appreciation to these institutions in view of their enormous support to the country’s truth-seeking commission.
In her remarks, Adelaide Sosseh, deputy chairperson for the TRRC, commended their major partners for supporting the commission, saying without the invaluable support of these institutions the truth commission would have not registered such a huge success easily.
“You worked with us, you feel our pain and you accompany us when we need resources and technical advice. When we needed a word of comfort,” she said.
Sosseh again acknowledged and appreciated the support gained from development partners during the investigation process.
“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you did for us. And we hope that the work we put in the past two and a half years will continue to lead to sustainable development, peace and healing in our beloved nation,” she said.
Haddy Jallow, director of Admin and Human Resources at TRRC, reiterated the overwhelming support of their partners during the truth-seeking process.
“Without these five donors, it would have been very difficult for us to actually complete our mandate,” she said.
The UN system, she added, has been very helpful to the truth commission since inception and added yet they are working together.
Ms Jallow said the UN system through UNDP has fully funded the TRRC Diaspora engagement as well as provided more assistance to the truth commissions.
She explained that IHRDA provided working materials such as computers to all the TRRC staff as well trained them on various areas such as research and investigations.
Jallow commended International Idea for supporting the TRRC on reconciliation, reparation and memorisation.
“They took us to Kigali, Rwanda for ten days and trained us on memorisation,” she said.
“CRS was also very supportive to TRRC, as it provided capacity building for the TRRC staff and provided the commission with an outreach programme when the TRRC decided to meet women across the nation.”
Shortly after receiving the UN system award, Ms. Seraphine Wakana, UN system resident coordinator said: “being here today is a honour, but also to recognise the great work done by the TRRC.”
The Gambia’s TRRC, she added, has been an example for many countries around the world.
