Honourable Fatoumatta Jahumpa-Ceesay, the Speaker of the National Assembly, has expressed Gambia government’s commitment to reaching higher moral ground by building a Gambia favourable for women and children through the promotion of child and women right issues as essential ingredients for poverty reduction and national development.

In a statement delivered at the opening of a five-day capacity building training programme for members of the National Assembly on child rights, child friendly budgeting, gender-based budgeting and advocacy strategies, Hon. Jahumpa-Ceesay noted that the promotion of child and women’s right is essential for poverty reduction and national development.

According to Speaker FJC, promoting and protecting the rights of children from abuse and exploitation requires concerted efforts and commitment from all regions, adding that its realisation would be dependent on a national movement in which everybody would not only understand and respect their duties to women and children but also perform them.

“The National Assembly and its members will be at the front of the campaign to champion child rights, child protection, women’s right and development in The Gambia as enshrined in the different international conventions,” she said, noting that genuine efforts are being made to domesticate international instruments in The Gambia.

The Speaker further asserted that cognizant of the fact that promoting child rights could play vital role in poverty reduction and national development, the United Nations convention on the rights of the child states that every child has the rights to an adequate standard of living, the highest attainable standard of health and education on the basis of quality of opportunity.

Meanwhile, the week-long capacity building programme organized by the Child Protection Alliance in partnership with Pro-PAG and UNICEF is aimed at building the capacity of National Assembly Members on child rights, child-friendly programmes and budgeting so as to create a Gambia conducive for women and children, a Gambia where the rights of women and children are protected.