Poorest Households Women Encounter Sex Earlier

KUNTAUR TOP THE LIST MICS SPELLED OUT



The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) that is designed to provide statistically sound and internationally comparable data for monitoring the situation of women and children in The Gambia, in its key findings The Gambia 2005-2006 spelled out that women from the poorest households encounter sex earlier than those from the richest household indicating that Kauntaur, Central River Region North top the list.
According to the MICS the first sexual encounter of women sex is earlier among women in Kauntaur and later in Banjul.

Prostitution, Pornography and Early Marriage Taken Root

As 41.5 percent of adolescent/youth sexually active

As quoted in the Draft Sexual Harassment Policy 2004, a study also conducted in Sexual Abuse and Exploitation in 2003 by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reveals that prostitution, pornography, early marriage and cross-generational sex that are sex between adolescent and adults have taken root in The Gambia “smiling coast of Africa”.

GOV'T SIGNED MOU WITH INSTITUTIONS

The government of The Gambia, through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, 11 December 2009, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with three institutions; namely the African Development Bank, European Union and the World Bank for budget support delivery for aid effectiveness in The Gambia, at a ceremony held at the Finance ministry's conference hall in Banjul.
The signing MoU officials revealed is to sets a partnership framework for a common approach to budget support, with the main objective to harmonise development partner's budget support programmes within the existing administrative and statutory provision as stipulated in the bilateral financing arrangement with participating partners.
Signatory parties have embraced the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, through alignment and harmonisation agenda. However, in the new MoU, parties agreed to create a common approach to development programming, implementation and evaluation between the government of The Gambia and development partners.
The programmes according to them will also provide direct and non-targeted general budget support for attainment of PRSP II's objectives with a particular focus in the social sector (health and education). According to the agreement document, parties also agreed that the disbursement will be partially linked to the levels of the achievement of agreed levels for selected performance indicators, as well as contribute to the public financial management reform, civil service reform, the revitalization of the groundnut sub-sector and improving road maintenance.
Mohamed H Midouche, Regional Resident Representative based in Senegal, speaking on behalf of his president said the purpose of the budget support is to assist the government of The Gambia in implementing its PRSP, with the ultimate goal of reducing poverty.
The General Budget Support (GBS), Midouche said is about providing funds directly to government, stating that it remains government preferred aid modality. This MoU Partnership Framework is to harmonise development partners budget support programme in reinforcing the cooperation between the government and its development partners so as to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of external aid, while supporting the institutional development of the Gambia.
In the context of the signing of MoU with development partners, he went on, the African Development Bank provides budget Support Grants of UA 4.0 Million including UA 1.0 Million finance under the Africa Food Crisis Response (AFCR), which brings the total Bank Group commitment in The Gambia, net of cancellations to UA 213.8 Million. Midouche then assured his bank's continuous support for the development efforts in the true spirit of partnership.
Madam Meskeren Mulatu of World Bank, representing Habib Fetini, the country director of World Bank, described the signing as yet another step towards strengthening their collaboration with a view to maximising their contributions to the country's effort to bring economic ad social progress.
She stated that , the partnership framework is the result of month dialogue and discussion between The Gambia government and its development partners. Its design began in the aftermath of HIPC complexion, aiming at crafting an instrument that could increase the effectiveness of external aid by supporting a wide range of development and institution building programmes, she said. The second expectation of this Partnership Framework, she continued, will be an important step towards broadening donor assistance by providing a low transaction cost instrument for accessing and delivering development assistance; thus allowing more time for dialogue on policy actions and implementation.
Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, honorable Abdou Kolley, described the signing as a first step and therefore called on their partners for as much as possible to facilitate the alignment process.
Minister Kolley believes in his own believed sad that the partnership will go a long way in facilitating their work as development partners. Joint missions and joint reviews and the likes will save time and cost. So if we work together, I think there will be any challenge that cannot be tackled, he said, while stating that the rationale behind the budget support programme is to support the government-own growth and poverty reduction objectives as stated in its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) II, by maximising its reliance on country systems and procedures.

Milling Machine For Makka Masireh.

The community of Makka Misireh in Wuli East, Upper River Region recently witnessed the inauguration of a milling machine to alleviate the drudgery of hard labour on rural women.
This information was contained in The Gambia Committee on Traditional Pracities affecting The Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP), the German Embassy in Dakar through its office in Banjul donated a milling machine to the people of Makka Masireh, GAMCOTRAP the facilitators of the donation.
At the inauguration, the media dispatch released said that One hundred girls protected from female genital mutilation were paraded to welcome the delegates with a fanfare of ‘Kankurang’ dance and other traditional entertainment at Makka Masireh.
The community were amongst the representatives from fifteen communities around the community of Makka Misireh in Wuli East who witnessed the inauguration of a milling machine to alleviate the drudgery of hard labour on rural women. The machine is funded by the German Embassy in Dakar through its Banjul office.
In her inauguration speech, the representative of the German Embassy in the Gambia Ms. Anita Martin said the support to the women of Makka Masireh is to bring attention to the efforts of GAMCOTRAP in creating awareness to end female genital mutilation. She noted that while there is need to respect Gambian culture, efforts should be made to protect the girls from female genital mutilation and other harmful practices and help them realize their full potentials. Ms. Anita Martin informed the gathering that the Federal Republic of Germany is firmly against the practice of FGM and is pleased to be working with Gambians to end it. She noted that for both the government of the Gambia and the Federal Republic of Germany Female Genital Mutilation is a matter of health that is affecting the maternal and reproductive health of women and girls as well as the abuse of internationally recognized human rights conventions and standards.
In her statement, the Executive Director said GAMCOTRAP, Dr Isatou Touray, complimented the efforts of the German Embassy in providing a milling machine by funding the construction of the house for the machine by providing building materials. She thanked the community and Mamadou Kamateh for taking leadership in ensuring the successful and timely completion of the building. Dr. Touray commended the community for providing labour for the construction of the building and an indication of their support - to alleviate the drudgery of processing cereals on women. Speaking on the objective of GAMCOTRAP’s intervention in providing support to the women in the Makka Masireh cluster is the realization that it is one of the remote and socially excluded areas in the country and that the women are multi-tasked with difficult chores. They are faced with the task of the triple roles of reproduction, production and community management. She thanked the ex-circumciser, Kumba Damba of Makka Masireh for her sense of community in appealing for a milling machine which will benefit the communities that support her in her decision to stop FGM.
In her words of appreciation to GAMCOTRAP Kumba Damba noted that it was through her participation in training and awareness creation that she saw the need to stop female genital mutilation along with all the communities she served. She expressed joy in witnessing the inauguration of the milling machine that will benefit the Makka Masireh cluster communities. Other speakers included the Alkalo of the village, men and women’s representatives from the surrounding villages. Accordingly, the GAMCOTRAP community Based Facilitator for he area, Nafa Jabbai, read a declaration on behalf of the Makka Masireh youths naming of their football team GAMCOTRAP Football Club to show their commitment of the team to join the campaign to stop female genital mutilation. The villagers also appealed for taps to further alleviate the difficulty of drawing water from wells as deep as fifty to ninety meters. The availability of the milling machine at Makka Masireh will also provide girls with time to study, as most household chores are done by women and girls.

QCELL A GAME CHANGER IN TECHNOLOGY

The only (Third Generation)3G network in The Gambia QCELL, with facilities and services that no other GSM operator can ffer in the country, has raised the bar, in its technology, services and product, and describrd by many as a game changer .
Wednesday 9th December 2009 at its Headquarter along the busy Kairaba Avenue, held a press conference to informed the press that Qcell, Gambia’s only 3G GSM Operators, is now roaming in every country in the world with 550 partners in 208 countries.
Addressing journalists, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)/Managing Director of Qcell Muhammed Jah expressed his sincere thanks and gratitude to all the media houses that were presemt.
Mr Jah stated that QCeII will always innovate; that it will never relent or compromise on standards. Part of their motivation as a company, he said is to keep the people of this country abreast of the innovative changes in the world of GSM Technology.
He noted that it is a piece of innovation that exemplifies convenience and simplicity. “The QCell Instant Roaming SIM Card is a gateway to global communications; its reach is limited only by the number of countries in the world. It beholds the imagination to think that in one SIM card, one can roam anywhere in the world without the need to add any accessories, or change to any other network”Mr Jah posited.
Jah said, “today, Qcell is happy to announce that you only need to carry one SIM card “With The QCell Instant Roaming SIM Card, you will talk wherever you are in the globe. Ladies and gentle men, with Qcell, SUNU BUSS Roaming SlM Card, we cover all the countries in the world. QCell, from 1 December 2009, Qcell is now roaming with 550 roaming partners and present in 208 Countries in the world”.
He added, “Simply ladies and gentlemen, what that means is that QCelI roams with a minimum of 1 operator in every country in the world. All of you will agree with me that this is a ground breaking event and a significant milestone in the history of telecommunication in The Gambia. To have access to this facility, just visit the QCeII Headquarters and demand for your QCeII Instant Roaming SIM Card. Slot it onto your mobile phone and start roaming anywhere in any country around the world”.
Mr Jah said, “to our valuable customers, I would like to sincerely thank you for your continued patronage and support over the past years. You have given us the courage to keep striving for more products and service to keep you happy. Without you, QCell would not have existed. Finally for our future customers who will be joining us soon, we welcome you to the QCell SUNU BUSS family and assure you of the best service at the cheapest rates”.
CEO/ MD Qcell added, the easy travel that characterises their world today also necessitated easy communications. He said “the QCeII model is to make communications as clear and easy and cheap as rationally possible; and a reach that extends worldwide. A man sitting in a remote village in China, should be able to receive my call or he makes a call to me, and the line will be as clear as crystal, and the cost, as cheap as cheap can be, with a QCeII SIM, he added. He said, “Though only a few months old, QCeII has been a trailblazer in bringing to the people of the Gambia the most up-to-date technological innovations available in the market”.
CEO Jah said today, a record has been broken in the history of the Gambia, particularly in the history of Telecommunication in The Gambia.He said strolling around town, one will see messages on billboards, one will hear voices on radios and TV, and one will read newspaper adverts, informing the general public about how many roaming partners, different GSM operators they have.He said some of them even go to the trouble of telling their Customers the specific countries they roam. He remarked, “Ladies and gentlemen, you will all agree with me that in the past, before the coming of QCell, when most of us travel around the world, before we travel, we take valuable tiime off our work to find out whether our Service Provider is roaming in the country we are travelling to. Sometimes one needs to carry all SIM cards of existing GSM operators along his journey just to make sure that if one does not work, the other will and sometimes none of them work”.Qcell Jah pointed out that the vision that spurred QCeII into existence is a double-edged one, first it was obviously his personal ambition as a businessman. He said having established QuantumNET in 1998, and adding a few subsidiaries in the following years, he continued this trajectory of growth, with an entrepreneurial drive that had gears pointing only forward, looking for new openings, and in the process, extending his wingspan, as it were, as a businessman. And in doing so he said, QCell started operation in July this year.
CEO Jah stressed that “in its birth also lies the other edge of my double-edged vision. We were determined that QCell was not going to be just another GSM operator. The idea of bringing to the Gambia “the highest and the best” in telecommunications technology was a significant triggering impulse which gave our vision its initial fire. Nothing short of the best would do as there was this greater need that Gambians must be given access to these new technologies, which have now become part of the fabric of all modern economies”. Mr Jah pointed out that the President’s Vision 20/20, the Silicon Valley project, and many other initiatives, are all timely responses to the technological challenges of their age. In QCell,he said their ambition found an ally in a national imperative, and their double-edged vision transformed into a cutting-edged reality. By any standard of reckoning, he said, QCeII is what the Americans call a game changer. It raised the bar, in terms of its technology, its services and its products. Mr Jah said. He said their network, is the only 3G network in The Gambia, with facilities and services that no other operator can offer. With a QCell SIM card he said, fast Internet access is taken for granted, their video call service is now the talk of the town, and the QCell MMS, the service that allows customers to send and receive video, music and photos from one mobile to another, is now all the rage among young people. Mr Jah said it doesn’t end there, that their QChat service is a social networking application which allows their customers to have fun chats in groups or in private and their UTunes allows customers to select the music they want people to listen to when they call them. On occasions, they may find need to switch off their mobiles he said, but with their QAlert,one will never have to miss a call, as the service is there to alert them of all their missed calls.
Mr Jah explained that the QWAP is another fantastic facility, because it allows those with low-end, non-36, phones to access the net, and enter a world of rich content, including music, video, sports, news and much more. “Where I have a laptop, or a desktop, but without a wireless connection to the net, the QWEB USB Internet Data Card is what the doctor ordered, because with it, one can have a fast, easy and reliable connection to the Web anywhere in the Gambia, from Banjul to Koina”.
Qcell Roaming Coordinator, Isatou Jallow, said that that one of the major aims of Qcell is to provide their customers with a cheap, efficient and wide ranging mobile phone experience.
According to Jallow, Qcell network is the cheapest in the country, and the clarity and reliability one gets on their network is unmatched by any other GSM operator’s network in The Gambia.
Roaming Coordinator noted that their locally made calls as well as the international calls is better and cheapest. Though only a few months old she said, they have spared no effort to have as many roaming agreements as possible, covering the four corners of the globe, to enable their customers to travel anywhere in the world and still be within easy reach.
She explained that " today QCell experience has now truly gone global, because with their new QCell Instant Roaming SIM, their customers can travel far and wide, and wherever they might be in the world; they would be able to make a call.
Isatou said their post-paid roaming subscribers will continue to enjoy all services enjoyed locally and internationally with over 550 operators in over 208 destinations worldwide.
She remarked, “It certainly does not stop here, we at QCell will continue to work tirelessly in enhancing our subscriber experiences and in a month, we shall be launching the QCell prepaid and GPRS roaming service”. She added, “The Sunu Buss brand is one that prides itself on expanding the world of our customers with all the conveniences of a modern high-tech mobile service”.
She said the QCell Instant Roaming SIM might be their latest addition to their stock of high-grade services, but their customers can rest be assured that it wouldn’t be the last.

GAVI HONOURS 15 COUNTRIES FOR EXCELLING IN IMMUNISATION AND CHILD SURVIVAL

Award ceremony held at GAVI Partners’ Forum in HANOI, 19 November 2009 – Fifteen health ministers from low-income countries today received awards from the GAVI Alliance for their outstanding performance in improving child health and immunisation.
At a ceremony at the GAVI Alliance Partners’ Forum in Hanoi, GAVI Board Chair Mary Robinson, GAVI Immunize Every Child Board member, La Infanta Cristina of Spain, and GAVI CEO Julian Lob-Levyt presented the ministers with an engraved plaque to recognise their success. UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Yvonne Chaka Chaka, a South-African singer, moderated the event.
GAVI’s CEO Julian Lob-Levyt noted that the awards recognise the work of all those responsible for the success of the nations honoured in Hanoi, including the individuals who work in national health care systems and the GAVI partners who collaborate with the governments to help overcome financial and logistical barriers.
All have worked hard to make these achievements possible,” he said at the celebration. “With these awards we acknowledge the great work that so many of you are doing--at times in extremely challenging circumstances—to provide immunisation services to mothers and children.”
Among the awards were those given to countries for highest co-financing of vaccines and for best performance in routine immunisation. Some were also recognised for successfully:

• increasing immunisation rates under challenging conditions,
• engaging with civil society organisations,
• introducing new vaccines, and
• managing vaccine stocks.

Vietnam, the host country of the GAVI Partners’ Forum, and Nepal received awards for the highest average annual rate of reduction of child mortality among all of the 72 GAVI countries since 1990.
“We recognise that effective and sustainable programmes require careful attention to a variety of factors,” Dr Lob-Levyt said. “You have to ensure that the vaccines are available; that stocks are well managed, and your staff is well trained. You also need to put in place a workable delivery system for reaching every child, and you must have adequate resources to sustain the introduction of new vaccines. This is why we gave awards in different categories.”
The 2009 GAVI Partners’ Forum from 18 to 20 November is a platform to exchange ideas about existing opportunities and about GAVI’s policies and strategy for the next five years through 2015. The meeting gathers more than 400 participants, among them global health leaders and a wide range of international delegates from GAVI-eligible countries and from donor countries, representatives of civil society organisations, technical experts and private sector partners. The aim is to learn about developing countries’ experiences in fighting vaccine-preventable disease and discuss challenges ahead.
The meeting in Hanoi takes place just one month after the release of the 2009 State of the World’s Vaccines and Immunization by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank (http://www.who.int/immunization/sowvi/en). These GAVI partners reported that worldwide immunisation rates are now at their highest ever. At the same time, the report acknowledged the need for donor nations to address a funding gap that leaves millions of children still at risk, particularly in the poorest nations and communities, where preventable diseases take their deadliest toll.


GAVI Awards

Category Countries No. Of awards
Child Survival award Vietnam
Nepal 2
Best Immunisation performance Medium coverage – Congo, Djibouti
High coverage – Gambia
Very High coverage – Bhutan, Eritrea
Large country - Bangladesh 6
Introduction of new vaccines Malawi
Cambodia 2
Vaccine stock management Afghanistan
Cambodia
Sudan 3
Challenge award Congo
Liberia 2
Co-financing award Guyana 1
CSO engagement Togo 1






The GAVI Alliance is a Geneva-based public-private partnership aimed at improving health in the world’s poorest countries. The Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry in both industrialised and developing countries, research and technical agencies, NGOs, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private philanthropists.
GAVI support consists of providing life-saving vaccines and strengthening health systems. Since 2000, 256 million children have been vaccinated and close to 4 million premature deaths averted thanks to GAVI-funded programmes.
For more information, please visit: www.gavialliance.org

Media contacts:

Jeffrey Rowland jrowland@gavialliance.org
in Hanoi
Mobile: +41 79 240 4559
Local: +84 1222337698
Dan Thomas dthomas@gavialliance.org
in Hanoi
Mobile: +41 79 250 2398
Local: +84 1265255950
Photo and video requests:
Dan Thomas in Hanoi
Mobile: +41 79 250 2398
Local: +84 1265255950
and

Sandra Scolari in Geneva
Office: +41 22 909 6528

Constitution of The Gambia Press Union

1. PREAMBLE
Cognisant of the rapid changes and transformation taking place in our society, socially, politically and Economically.
Aware of the pivotal role that the media is expected to play in such a process,
It has been deemed necessary to revise the constitution of the Gambia Press Union in order to reflect those Important changes.

1. NAME
The name shall remain the GAMBIA PRESS UNION, henceforth referred to as the UNION .

2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The Union shall:
Be purely a professional and non-political organisation concerned with matters affecting journalism and all aspects of the mass media, although not unconcerned with the political and socio-economic needs and aspirations of the society in general.
Defend the freedom of the press and professional independence in journalism.
Promote unity and understanding amongst journalists and other media workers through collective bargaining and the provision of welfare schemes.
Safeguard the freedom of the press and protect the rights, liberties and welfare of journalists and other media workers.
Develop the prestige and enhance the social role of journalists and other media workers, as well as endeavour at all times to maintain the standards of the profession.
Uphold the freedom of the collection and dissemination of information, the right to opinion and fair comment.
Forge closer collaboration with other journalist orgnisations and media institutions both in The Gambia and abroad.
Encourage budding journalists and others interested in the profession.
Seek training facilities and opportunities for members, both locally and abroad, as well as seek to enhance the professional competence of members through various other means necessary.
Promote solidarity amongst journalists and others in the profession.

3. MEMBERSHIP
(a) Membership of the Union shall be open to all practicing journalists and other media workers in The Gambia.
(b) There shall exist the following category of membership:
(i) Full
(ii) Associate
(iii) Affiliate
(a) Full membership shall be extended to full time Gambian Journalists and other media workers, both in The Gambia and abroad.
(b) Associate membership shall he extended to others concerned with the
mass media; including Gambia-based foreign journalists, public relations officers and students of Journalism.
(c) Affiliate membership shall be extended to Gambia-based organizations
and other bodies connected with the mass media; and they shall have only one vote.

4. ORGANS AND FUNCTIONS
(a) The organs of the Union shall comprise the general membership and the Executive Committee, as well as any other ad hoc body that may be created.
(b) Both the general membership and the Executive Committee shall have powers to establish ad hoc committees and to co-opt outsiders on an advisory capacity as and when necessary.

5. GENERAL MEMBERSHIP
(a) The general membership shall comprise members of the categories and ranks. It shall be the highest decision making body of the Union .

6. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
(a) The Executive Committee shall comprise the following:
(i) President
(ii) Two Vice Presidents
(iii) Secretary General
(iv) Two Assistant Secretaries
(v) Treasurer
(vi) Two co-opted members (one of whom must be a female)
(b) The Executive Committee shall be elected from fully paid up members during the triennial congress, and unless elected members leave their posts under any circumstances, they shall hold office for three years
(c) The Executive Committee shall be the main organ for implementing Union plans and decisions and its members shall in their respective capacities be individually and collectively responsible to the general membership for carrying out the running of the Union .
(d) All former Chairpersons/ Presidents of the Union as well as proprietors of media houses who are members of the Union shall be co-opted as advisers of the Executive Committee.

7. OFFICIALS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS
(a) The President and in his/her absence the first and second Vice Presidents respectively shall Chair all meetings and other functions of the Union, In their absence, the function shall Be performed by such person that members may determine.
(i) The President shall not serve more than two three-year terms.
(b) The Secretary General, and in his/her absence, any of the two assistant secretaries shall be responsible for recording minutes of meetings as well as responsible for general correspondence of the Union .
(c) The Treasurer shall be the custodian of the Union ’s accounts and all monies due shall be payable to him/her. He/she shall be required to submit an annual statement of account to the Annual General Meeting as well as lay the audited accounts before the Triennial Congress for scrutiny.
d) There shall be an Administrator of the Secretariat who shall be an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee. He/she shall be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Secretariat under the direct supervision of the President and he/she shall be held accountable for all the assets and properties of the Union .
He/she shall submit a monthly report on the status of the Secretariat at every general meeting.
(e) No proprietor or part owner of a media house or organ of news shall be eligible for election to any position in the Executive Committee.

8. MEETINGS
(a) There shall be an Annual General Meeting of the Union at the beginning of each calendar year and an ordinary general meeting on the first Saturday of each month.
(b) The Executive Committee shall be responsible for the convening of both the Annual General Meetings and the monthly meetings, as well as all other meetings of the Union .
(c) The Executive Committee shall also meet as and when necessary. It shall also convene an extra-ordinary general meeting as and when necessary, or at the request of not less than a simple majority of the general membership.
(d) The Annual General Meeting shall receive and examine reports by the President and the Secretary General on the activities of the Union during the year under review, while the Treasurer shall present a statement of account. The AGM would also consider and adopt an annual action plan prepared by the Executive Committee, as well as consider and adopt resolutions and decide on any amendments to the Constitution.
(e) The AGM shall also consider and adopt the subsequent year’s budget prepared by the Treasurer in consultation with the Executive Committee.

9. QUORUM
(a) One third of the general membership shall form a quorum in any properly constituted general meeting of the Union, and all decisions taken in such a meeting shall be binding on the Union.

10. DECISIONS
(a) All decisions of the Union shall be taken by consensus or by a simple majority of the members in attendance in a properly constituted meeting. Voting on any issue shall be by show of hand and the President shall have a casting vote, which shall be used only in the event of a tie.

11. FUNDS
(a) The Union shall derive its funds from either or all of the following sources:
(i) Membership subscriptions
(ii) Donations and contributions
(iii) Sale of publications
(iv) And through other fund raising activities sanctioned by the general membership.
(b) All individual members of all categories shall pay a membership registration fee on admission as well as monthly subscription fees as determined from time to time by the general membership.
(c) Affiliate member organisations shall pay membership registration fees upon admission and annual subscription fees due and payable at the beginning of each calendar year.
(d) All monies collected by the Treasurer shall be payable into the Union ’s bank account, unless otherwise determined by the general membership.
(e) The President, Treasurer and one member of the advisory body shall be the signatories to the Union ’s bank account.
(f) No money shall be withdrawn from the account unless it shall be authorized by the general membership, except in cases of emergency when the President or in his/her absence, the First Vice President can authorize such withdrawals and thereafter refer the matter to the general membership for consideration and endorsement.

12. DISCIPLINE
(a) Any member who is accused of gross professional misconduct or financial misappropriation involving Union funds shall have his/her membership suspended by a simple majority of members in attendance in a properly constituted general meeting. The matter shall then be referred to a special disciplinary committee selected for the purpose, which shall consider the matter and recommend any further action to be taken against such a member.
(b) Constant failure by a member to pay his/her dues as well as abide by the Union ’s Constitutional provisions shall be deemed to be lack of interest and may result in withdrawal of membership without notice.
(c) Any member subjected to disciplinary measures shall reserve the right to petition the Executive Committee for a review who shall be obliged to table the matter in a subsequent general meeting for consideration.

13. AMENDMENTS
(a) The whole or any part of this Constitution shall be subject to amendment by a simple majority of members in attendance in any properly constituted AGM.
(b) All proposals for amendment of the Constitution shall be done in writing by fully paid up members and forwarded to the Secretary General at least one week prior to the AGM.

14. DISSOLUTION
In the event that the Union is to be dissolved, all its assets and properties shall be given to a media organization in this country with similar aims and objectives.

DONE IN BANJUL ON THIS 15TH DAY OF NOVEMBER 2001.

Gambia Press Union
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