The United Nations Fund for Population Affairs (UNFPA) and the Government of The Gambia on Wednesday 6 June signed US$5.5 million for the Country Programme Action plan 2007-2011 for the sixth cycle of UNFPA assistance to the National Population Programme. The ceremony was held at the President's Office, Banjul and was spearheaded by the National Population Commission. In her opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Vice President Mrs. Fatou Jasseh Kuyateh, said the signing marks the beginning of a new epoch for strengthening programme planning, monitoring and evaluation; fostering results-based programming and providing a linkage with the Enterprise Resource Planning.

Mrs. Jasseh Kuyateh added that the Country programme Action Plan (CPAP) document provides a detailed description of the programme, its processes, the major results expected and the strategies for achieving those results. She added that the CPAP, with detailed information on implementation modalities constitutes the formal agreement between UNFPA and the government for implementing the country programme. She indicated that she is confident that this new country programme will further strengthen government's stand on;

(a) improving the quality and extending the availability of health services,

(b) achieving universal access to quality education with particular priority given to primary and technical education and on the job training

(c) eliminating all forms of discrimination against the girl child and women and promote the realisation of their full potential and

(d) collecting and italicising gender-disaggregated data for development, planning and poverty reduction. She thanked the UNFPA for their support to the National Population Programme.

In her statement, UNFPA country Director, Ms. Suzanne Maiga Konate said that the programme has been developed based on the Common Country Assessment (CCA) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) in The Gambia in conformity with the Millennium Development Goals and national priorities reflected in vision 2020. She reiterated that by working in and for this new programme we are serving The Gambia, in improving the welfare and standard of living of the population. Ms. Maiga Konate indicated that they are held by an obligation to produce results, bound by a partnership that derives its legitimacy on a spirit of mutual responsibility and interdependence.

Also speaking at the ceremony, the Secretary General and head of the Civil Service, Mr. Ousman Jammeh said the goal of the programme is to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life and standard of living of The Gambia population. He said the programme implementation has significantly contributed to The Gambia's progressive attainment of ICPD and MDG goals as demonstrated by the marked decline in maternal and infant mortality rates, as well as, an increase in the gross enrolment rate especially for girls. Mr. Jammeh noted that gender issues have also begun to be mainstreamed in national policies, programmes and plans by Government and its partners. He further said that despite these achievements, The Gambia still faces challenges of high population growth rate, rising levels of poverty, and inadequacy of the human and financial resources to address these challenges. Mr. Jammeh noted that the programme will support policy dialogue and advocacy on population, gender and reproductive health and will adopt a rights-based approach to programming at national and decentralised levels. He assured the gathering that The Gambia Government would strive to make sure that desired results are achieved during this phase of programme implementation. Mr. Jammeh recognised and appreciates the UNFPA's increase of allocation to The Gambia from regular resource to US$4 million from US$2.75 million. He thanked UNFPA for taking the lead in addressing population and Development issues in The Gambia.

The program was attended by representatives from various departments of Government. The Secretary General office of the president, Mr. Ousman Jammeh signed on behalf of the government of The Gambia and the UNFPA country Director, Ms. Maiga Konate on behalf of the UNFPA.