Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, Vice-President and Secretary of State for Women Affairs, yesterday officially launched the National Human Development Report 2005 (NHDR) at the Kairaba Hotel.
The report- the fourth in a series produced by the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) in The Gambia- focuses on the theme: Building Capacity for the Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in The Gambia.

The massive report provides a useful opportunity to assess the impact of government and other partners in the development process of the country. It also affords both government and its partners an opportunity to realign their priorities and formulate new programmes to address any inherent deficiencies that may become apparent.

It was jointly formulated by a team of consultants comprising Sulayman MB Faye, Senior Lecturer at the University of The Gambia (UTG), Dr Alieu Badara Saja Taal, Senior Lecturer (UTG), Boro B Susso, Senior Lecturer at the UTG, and Dr Isatou Touray, former Deputy Director-General of Management Development Institute (MDI).

In her launching statement, Dr Njie-Saidy, said the government of The Gambia and the donor community have placed much emphasis and resources on capacity building interventions over the past years.
“In addition to the government’s own training and human resources development budget, administered by the Personnel Management Office (PMO), there has been a series of capacity-building projects and initiatives, all of which aimed at building, and/or strengthening the capacity of government officials, and/or institutions to formulate and implement development policies and programmes. Furthermore, there exist other initiatives geared towards building the capacity of the private sector and civil society organisations to effectively interface with other stakeholders and to play their role in the development process,” she said.

Vice-President Njie-Saidy added that despite the past and ongoing efforts, the issue of capacity-building still resides at the forefront of the government preoccupation, noting that “capacity is not only to formulate, but also to effectively implement policies and programmes”.

“Therefore, unless and until an attempt is made to address these concerns in a more holistic, less piece-meal manner, we will continue to confront considerable constraints in meeting our long-term development objectives, including the eight Millennium Development Goals”, she warned.

According to her, the attainment of the MDGs requires adequate capacity- both human and financial in order to identify and implement those priority interventions that have the greatest bearing on our human development potential. She asserted that The Gambia needs a “critical mass of well trained and motivated men and women in the public and civil service, private sector, civil society and informal sector, to take the country forward”.

Vice-President Njie-Saidy expressed optimism that the concerns raised and recommendations contained in the report will be useful to both the government and other stakeholders in “our respective programming activities”.

In her welcoming remarks, Dr Fadzai Gwaradzimba, the UN Resident Coordinator of the UN systems in The Gambia, described the report as the “UNDP’s global flagship product for advocating economic and social change and development that expand and enlarges people’s choices and opportunities”.

Dr Gwaradzimba said the upcoming UN Development Assistance Framework for 2007-2011 commits the UN to support the establishment and strengthening of the National Planning Commission and to strengthening local authorities capacity in local government areas to effectively deliver basic social services to the poor.
“We have also committed ourselves to supporting the government of The Gambia to develop and implement an MDG based national development strategy, which should assist the government in identifying policy reforms and magnitude of resources required to achieve the national targets set out in the Millennium Development Goals and vision 2020”, she added.

She told the gathering that the UNDP is in the process of implementing a harmonised approach to “cash transfers, which is due to take effect in January 2007; an initiative designed to reduce the transaction costs and administrative burdens on government and other national counterparts and to promote system coherence and results-based contributions to national development goals and priorities, especially the MDGs”.

Professor Andreas Steigen, Vice Chancellor of the University of The Gambia delivered the closing remarks, while David Bowen, the FAO Representative to The Gambia delivered the vote of thanks.

The launch was characterised by a string of presentations and discussions.