Fatou Lamin Faye, Secretary of State for Basic & Secondary Education officially opened a three - day regional training seminar by United Nation Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation at the Paradise Suite Hotel in Senegambia yesterday. 
The training funded by UNESCO brought together participants from 11 English-speaking African countries, aimed at training new staff of African National Commissions for UNESCO to familiarise them with the ideals and mandate of the organisation, namely Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Lesotho, Zambabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Ghana, Bostwana, South Africa and The Gambia, respectively.

In declaring the seminar open, SoS Faye, on behalf of the government and people of The Gambia, welcomed all the participants to the international meeting. She said that development cannot be successfully generated and directed unless it is supported by a “deliberate policy of investing in those human capital resources required to produce, organise, mobilise and manage the development process that will be indispensable in the 21st century.” 

She then reaffirmed The Gambia government’s commitment to increasing awareness about the need for high performance through seminars and management training sessions focused on policy and strategic issues.
Malick Mbye, on behalf of the Director-General of UNESCO (Mr. Koichiro Matsuura) said this inter-regional training seminar for newly appointed staff is a tradition with a view to enhancing their capacities of National Commissions. 

For her part, Madam Sukai Bojang, Secretary- General of the Gambia National Commission for UNESCO expressed hope that participants at the end of the training will have an idea of how UNESCO operates.
Also a speaker at the occasion was Malcolm Duthie, UN representative in The Gambia.