The Government of the Republic of China on Taiwan, through its embassy in The Gambia, yesterday presented a cheque for US$ 300,000 to the President’s Empowerment of Girls Education Project (PEGEP).

 The cheque was presented by the Taiwanese Ambassador to The Gambia, Dr Patrick Chang, to Mr. Ousman Jammeh, Secretary- General and Head of the Civil Service, who also hand-delivered it to  Mustapha Saine, Deputy Project Manager of PEGEP, at a ceremony held at State House in Banjul. This amount represents part of US$ 700,000 Taiwan’s contribution to PEGEP for the year 2007.

In his presentation speech, Ambassador Chang said that it is known to all that President Jammeh attaches a lot of importance to girls’ education in the country, as manifested in the building of more schools and provision of scholarships for girls, all geared towards encouraging them to attend school. He described the initiative as important because the girls are going to be housewives tomorrow, thus impacting on the society.
He said that his government is happy to be associated with what he described as a good cause for President Jammeh. The Taiwanese envoy revealed that his government has since 2000, contributed US $4.15M, with a yearly contribution of US700,000 to US$ IM, all depending on the discussion between the two governments.

Ambassador Chang then appealed to women of The Gambia to work hard so that they would not disappoint the President.
In receiving the cheque, Secretary-General and Head of Civil Service, Ousman Jammeh, said President Jammeh and the people of The Gambia are appreciative of the Taiwanese gesture, describing them as true and genuine friends of The Gambia.
According to him, since President Jammeh took the leadership of this country, he has realised that more than half of the population of the country are women, but not much of the girls were going to school.

For his dream to be realised, Secretary-General Jammeh said that every Gambian has a role to play in nation-building, as half of the population cannot be left behind.
He added: “I think this has actually motivated his Excellency to make sure that for Gambians to be effective contributors to national development, it is important that they have education. And if we are not sending our girls to school then, of course, we will run into problems in terms of getting the effective contribution of every Gambian.”
According to him, President Jammeh has contributed a lot of resources in the realisation of the project.

“It is not that the he [President Jammeh] is not doing anything and is depending on support coming from his friends. But, he has actually invested tremendous amount of energy and resources to make sure that he changes the situation for the better.”
He concluded by assuring the Taiwanese Ambassador of The Gambia’s commitment to continue championing Taiwan’s cause at the international fora.

Mustapha Saine, Deputy Project Manager of PEGEP, said Taiwan has been a major contributor to the project over the past years. “We cannot express our sincere appreciation to Taiwan and its people. President Jammeh has a very sharp Focal Point as far as education of girls in this country is concerned. Yesterday, yes they were left behind, but today his Excellency[President Jammeh] has paved the way forward for the girl child, thanks we have a very good friend and collaborator that’s the ROC [Taiwan]. On behalf of the President we say a big thank-you,” he concluded.