Taking A Decisive Step Towards the MDGs in The Gambia

According to a press release from the State Department of Finance and Economic Affairs, The seventh Round Table Conference (RTC) for The Gambia was successfully concluded on the 6th of February 2008 in London. The conference was organized with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The RTC provided a forum for dialogue between the Government of The Gambia and its development partners and was co-chaired by Her Excellency the Vice President, Dr Aja Isatou Njie Saidy, and the Regional Director for Africa, Mr Gilbert Houngbo. Delegates representing 27 bilateral and multilateral and other donor agencies including Bretton Woods institutions as well as officials of the Government of The Gambia, National Assembly Members and the civil society organazations, participated in the meeting.

Her Excellency Aja Isatou Njie Saidy warmly welcomed all delegations to the Round Table conference on behalf of His Excellency The President of The Gambia, Alhagi Dr Yahya AJJ Jammeh, the Government and the people of The Gambia. According to her, the objectives of the RTC are to foster continuous policy dialogue with development partners, partnership building and resource mobilization, for the implementation of the Gambia Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for 2007-2011 (PRSP II).

For his part  the regional director for UNDP, Mr Gilbert Hungbo, commended The Gambia for having efficiently led the preparatory process of the round table conference and on positive progress made towards meeting some of the MDG targets. He stressed that the TRC provided the opportunity for the government of The Gambia and its development partners to further strategic dialogue on cooperation on the implementation of the PRSP II and reaffirmed UNDP’s commitment to play a role as a trusted development partner including provision of substantive support to capacity development efforts in the implementation of the PRSP II.

During the meeting the Gambian delegation presented the PRSP II its accompanying result matrix and financing requirement, as well as the Aid effectiveness Action plan based on the Paris Declaration.

The development partners at the conference unanimously commended the government of The Gambia for reaching the completion Point under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor countries (HIPC) initiative and for a very well prepared and result oriented PRPS II and the associated strategy documents, stating that it provided a sound basis for addressing poverty in The Gambia. The Development partners pledged directly a minimum financial support of US $175 million over the PRPS II period with strong prospects for substantial additional funding from debt relief grants resources and other financial windows. In this regard, an appeal was made for non- Paris Club creditors and non- Multilateral Debt Relief initiative agencies to provide debt relief to The Gambia on terms comparable to the Paris club creditors.

On the way forward, agreement was reached between the Government and its development partners on the need for periodic consultative and review meetings, on the basis of the Gambia’s Aid Effectiveness Action Plan, as well as the Results Matrix of the PRSP.
 
The Round Table Conference was held in a frank and cordial atmosphere. The Vice President in her closing remarks thanked the development partners for their goodwill and support shown towards The Gambia. She also thanked UNDP for the role played in organizing a successful Roundtable.