The Gambia National Commission For UNESCO, NATCOM, has approved a sum of $20,000, equivalent to D441, 000.00 under Participation Programme 2008-2009 to Media Agenda, for implementation of its training activities which will include training of middle managers at both print and electronic mediums, beginners and other specialized areas like Sport, Health, and Human right journalists.
The Project will kick off from 15 December 2008 to the end of February 2009. A total of 170 journalists will benefit from this project, to come from both electronic and print press.  The official signing of the contract was done at the offices of NATCOM on Thursday 27 November 2008.
At the signing ceremony, Mrs. Sukai Bojang the Secretary General of NATCOM, emphasized the important her organization attaches to the training of journalists in the region. She said UNESCO has a higher regard for investing in the human resources of its member countries, and more particularly in the communication sector, which is the fourth largest sector. That she said was what even make it more relevant for her office’s intervention.
She recalled that her office was instrumental in the creation of the Media Training Center, in collaboration with stake holders like the Gambia Press Union and the Gambia Radio and television services,that center has produced some trained journalists, who are now doing well in their respective places of work.
Now it’s the Media Agenda, which she described as people who are very focused in what they are doing. she said with much investment into our human resources sector, we can defeat our critics who would always say, journalists leave classroom and straight into the newsrooms.
The Chairperson of board of directors Media Agenda, Mrs. Baturu Camara, expressed her delight for NATCOM to approve the “Support Media Training “to Media Agenda. She said it is only with such interventions that we can develop as a nation. No nation can develop without education. She promise that we will deliver as expected.
Director, Media Agenda, Madi M.K. Ceesay said they at the Media Agenda are pleased that such a challenge is thrown in their court. He promised that by the time the project ends 170 jounalists will get the best out of the training. He assured the NATCOM that this is not the first time Media Agenda has such a project, and certainly “we will deliver”