Serekunda, 13 April 2022 (TDI): The University of The Gambia (UTG), announced that the second badge for the UTG-UNDP Graduate Scheme is planned to kick start. Students from the University of The Gambia will have chances to work in various governmental institutions.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in The Gambia supports this program and the UTG coordinates it.
INTRODUCTION OF UTG-UNDP GRADUATE SCHEME
The first training program of the UTG-UNDP Graduate Scheme started officially in June 2021. The UTG-UNDP Graduate Program is a structured training program designed to give university students opportunities to supplement their formal education with practical career-related experience through systematic deployment to government agencies for internships. 24 students from the UTG have benefited from this project.
After the implementation; the Student Union of the University, the UTG Occupational Centre conducted a two-day evaluation retreat. Moreover, this was for the UNDP-funded graduate program in Mansakonko on 20-21 December 2021. This follow-up work laid the foundation for further cooperation in the future.
COOPERATION BETWEEN THE UNDP AND THE UNIVERSITY OF THE GAMBIA
On October 12, 2020; UNDP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of The Gambia (UTG) to promote the progress of mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in UTG’s academic curricular, research programs, and also community engagement.
To coordinate with national SDGs priorities in the Gambia, both focused the MOU on 5 main areas. The areas are SDG tracking, Curriculum Development, Case study and research on SDG baseline information; SDG Lecture Series, and also Project Piloting.
This partnership is a follow-up project of the UNDP Gambia Accelerator Laboratory (AcclabGM); which also aims to support the overall reform process of the Gambia National Development Plan (NDP 2018-2021) in the social, economic, political, and security fields.
Moreover, there will be a Sustainable Development and Policy Research Centre (UTG-Think Tank) established by the UTG. The main work of the Think Tank includes studying, analyzing policy, debating; and also coordinating the overall implementation of this collaboration.
As a part of this partnership, UNDP Gambia will help UTG mobilize resources that can facilitate and strengthen the overall implementation of the MOU and relevant projects.
The development of the partnership between the UNDP and the University of The Gambia shows the significance to cooperate and coordinate with local partners during the process to achieve SDGs globally.
