Governor urges rural youth to utilise opportunities as CORY Gambia project REVCEL training starts

Participants at the CORY REVCEL Training in Basse

The governor of the Upper River Region has called on youth of the region to tap the opportunities provided by The Gambia government for personal growth and development.

Governor Omar Ceesay said almost all the entire projects that the government has implemented have youth component which if utilised by the youth would help them to contribute meaningfully towards personal and national development.

He made this remark during the official opening of 12-day training for 27 young people under the Rural Entrepreneurial Venture Creation and Experimental Learning (REVCEL) underway at the regional education conference hall in Basse Mansajang, 

BAJ Gambia Director of Programmes off to Paris

BAJ Gambia Director of Programmes

Mamadou Edrisa Njie, director of programmes, Biodiversity Action Journalists The Gambia (BAJ Gambia), has left Banjul for Paris, France, where he is invited to attend a three-day annual youth conference on climate change. The conference, 11th Conference of Youth (COY11), is scheduled for 26 - 28 November 2015 at the Parc des Expositions of Villepinte, in Paris. 

COY11, organisers said is to present the youth voice just before the Conference of Parties (COP21) and it is expected to gather more than 5,000 young people across the world.

Speaking to Mansa Banko shortly before departure, Mr Njie thanked the management of BAJ Gambia for giving him the opportunity to participate in the conference, saying this is the first time BAJ Gambia is participating in COY.

He said he would serve as a rapporteur in one of the COY11 Working Groups, noting that his eight years of experience in journalism and blogging will make the work easy.

He said COY11 will be a “decisive step” for youth climate mobilisation ahead of COP21.

Mr Njie explained that the conference aims to help young people understand climate negotiation process and also enhances their capacity for action on the field.

SENEGAL: FAYE M Mansour appointed vice president of the Global Panel on Water and Peace

M FAYE Mansour VP Global Panel on Water and Peace.

Africa is now the head of the International Water diplomacy with the appointment of M FAYE Mansour, Minister of Water and Sanitation of Senegal, as the vice president of the Global Panel on Water and Peace. The appointment of FAYE also comes in recognition of the success of the OMVS. The report by Strategic Foresight Group, "Water Cooperation Quotient," published earlier this year, had said OMVS as the best organization of river basins in the world. 

 

On November 16, 2015, Didier Burkhalter, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, led the meeting of 15 governments in Geneva to launch the Global Panel on Water and Peace, whose mandate is to provide a comprehensive architecture to be able to transform water from a source of the crisis to an instrument of cooperation and peace. The new global initiative to prevent water wars will generate an annual peace dividend of $ 200 billion in shared river basins in the developing world. The high-level panel chaired by Mr. Danilo Türk, former President of Slovenia.

Government of The Gambia and United Nations agency IFAD to review findings of evaluation of their country programme

Moses Abukari IFAD

Rome, 20 November 2015 – On 3 December 2015, the Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE) of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN agency specializing in rural development, will present the conclusions and recommendations of an independent evaluation of IFAD’s country strategy and programme in The Gambia.
During the national workshop, which will take place at Kairaba Hotel in Banjul, the Government of The Gambia and IFAD will discuss key evaluation findings and how issues such as targeting, value chain development and sustainability contribute to transforming rural areas and reducing poverty. The findings of the evaluation and the exchange between and among partners taking part will inform the development of IFAD’s new strategy in the country.

Climate change poses major threat to food security, warns UN expert

GENEVA (3 November 2015) – “Climate change poses severe and distinct threats to food security, and could subject an additional 600 million people to malnutrition by 2080,” warned today the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Hilal Elver.

“Increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather, rising temperatures and sea levels, as well as floods and droughts have a significant impact on the right to food,” said the expert. “All these climate incidents will negatively impact on crops, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture and on people’s livelihoods,” she added.

New GYINers oriented on GYIN concept

By Mariam Saine-Sanyang

Gambia GYINers

The Global Youth Innovation Network (GYIN)-Gambia Chapter on Monday 26 October, 2015 held a daylong presentation on the networks programmes and activities as well as its scope of operation in the country and beyond at its secretariat in Churchill’s Town to orient its new members called 

GYINers on the concept of GYIN.

Presented by the GYIN Gambia coordinator, Mamadou Edrisa Njie, the gathering brought together GYINers from West Coast Region and Kanifing Municipality who are interested in the daily affairs of the organization.

“GYIN-Gambia Chapter has launched a massive campaign to be organizing a biweekly orientation ‘I am a GYINer’ to orientation our new members,” says the GYIN Gambia coordinator, while delivering his keynote remarks during the opening ceremony of the occasion.

African Development Bank to triple Annual Climate Financing to nearly $5 billion by 2020

The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, announced on Friday, October 9 that the AfDB would nearly triple its annual climate financing to reach $5 billion a year by 2020. AfDB’s climate spending will increase to 40% of its total new investments by 2020.

“Climate change is both an urgent threat and a unique opportunity,” Adesina said. “The Bank is significantly stepping up its support for African countries, not only to meet that threat but also to seize the opportunity to drive low-carbon, climate-resilient growth.”

Half of the $5 billion will be dedicated to reducing Africa’s greenhouse gas emissions by unlocking Africa’s enormous potential for renewable energy, especially solar, hydro, wind and geothermal power. The AfDB will also work with its clients to improve energy efficiency and build sustainable transport systems.