Banjul, 8 April 2022 (TDI): The Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in The Gambia, Seraphine Wakana welcomed the new representative of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) in The Gambia, Rose Sarr to the country. Today, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, and Gambians Abroad, Dr. Mamadou Tangara, received Letters of Credence from Rose Sarr.
The representative of the World Food Programme (WFP) in The Gambia and the Country Director of WFP; Yasuhiro Tsumura met with Rose Sarr. Both representatives discussed the areas of future engagement and possible cooperation.
GAMBIA’S WAY TO ACHIEVE SDGs
The Gambia joined the United Nations as a new independent state on 21 September 1965. Since then, the United Nations has been supporting the country in achieving its national development priorities in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
With the support from the United Nations and the hard work of the Gambian government; the country has made great progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) these years.
According to data in 2021: The Gambia’s SDG Index ranked 123 out of 165 countries in total with a score of 59.26/100. Although The Gambia still has a long way to go in achieving the SDGs; the country has made varying degrees of progress on 15 of the 17 SDGs last year.
Among all 17 SDGs, Gambia is already on track in 2 of them. The SDG13 is about climate change actions, and the SDG16 refers to peace, justice, and strong institutions.
UNFPA IN GAMBIA
The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) has been working with the Government of The Gambia since 1972. UNFPA is a leading agency in areas that include achieving reproductive health, gender equality, and women’s empowerment. Moreover, UNFPA also offers support for monitoring, analyzing, and responding to rapidly changing population trends.
Furthermore, there are 7 main projects which have built the structure of UNFPA’s work in the country. They are Adolescent Reproductive Health, Integrated Reproductive Health, Population Programme Management, Population and Family Life Education (PoPFLE), Gender, Data Collection, and Analysis, Advocacy, and also IEC.
WFP IN GAMBIA
According to the data given by the World Food Programme (WFP); The Gambia is a country with a 2.1 million population, and 48% of people live in poverty, while 10.3% of children suffer from acute malnutrition.
WFP started its work in The Gambia in 1970. The projects launched by WFP are around 5 main topics which are crisis response, school feeding, nutrition, market support, and capacity strengthening.
