Access to information and independent media are essential to development

A joint statement from freedom of expression advocacy organisations.

Human development in the coming decades will depend on people’s access to information. Ground-breaking new media and technology are enabling major expansion of economic, social and political progress.

We believe that freedom of expression and access to independent media are essential to democratic and economic development. Freedom of speech and the media are means to advance human development and are ends in their own right.

Achieving new Global Goals will require increased investments in smallholder agriculture say development leaders at Rome conference

IFAD President, Kanayo F. Nwanze

Rome, 17 February 2016 – Development leaders, heads of state and government representatives gathered for the opening of the 39th Session of the Governing Council of the International Fund forAgricultural Development (IFAD) to explore ways of boosting investments in smallholder agriculture that are essential to achieving the Global Goals of ending poverty and hunger.
In his opening statement, Sergio Mattarella, the President of the Italian Republic, said investing in smallholder agriculture in developing countries was a cross-cutting issue that helps to stabilize communities and countries and reduce migration and conflict.

Civil society calls on Uganda to respect citizens’ rights and media freedom ahead of elections

MEDIA STATEMENT:  Civil society groups are urging Ugandan authorities to respect citizen and media freedoms ahead of the 18 February parliamentary and presidential elections.

In the months leading up to election day, Ugandan authorities have restricted the ability of ordinary citizens, civil society activists and journalists to engage in open debates on sensitive issues such as official corruption, high rates of unemployment, rising costs of living, human rights violations and succession in the presidency, say CIVICUS and the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI).

“It appears that attacks on the media and journalists aim to restrict coverage of events and discussions that appear to challenge the actions and performance of the current government that has been in power for 30 years,” said David Kode, Policy and Research Officer at CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations. “Worryingly, freedom of assembly of members of the political opposition has also been restricted, while civil society organisations have been intimidated.”

REVCEL Training for 50 Youth Opens in LRR

REVCEL LRR Rural Youth session

A 12 days (Dec. 11-22, 2015) training on entrepreneurship dubbed the Rural Entrepreneurial Venture Creation and Experimental Learning (REVCEL) for 50 rural youth kicks-off at Pakalinding, Lower River Region (LRR) on Friday.

Organized by the Creating Opportunities for Rural Youth (CORY) Gambia project, it is being implemented by the Global Youth Innovation Network (GYIN) - Gambia chapter.
The training, which is meant to equip young men and women with entrepreneurship skills, focusing on project and enterprise development, is underway at the Trans-Gambia Lodge in Pakalinding.

It is jointly funded by CORY Project The Gambia and the National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development Project (Nema) and officially opened on December 14, 2015.

Evaluation of IFAD's programme in The Gambia points to good project design but pitfalls in targeting

Participants at IFAD Evaluation Workshop

Development projects carried out in The Gambia by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – the UN agency specializing in rural development – have been well designed, but faced challenges during their implementation, an evaluation report produced by IFAD’s Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE) revealed today at a national workshop in Banjul.

The evaluation assessed five IFAD-financed projects carried out between 2004 and 2014. According to the report, the projects had an overall positive impact on the rural population. For example, they enabled families to purchase items that gradually covered the households’ needs and made them more self-sufficient. Village savings and credit associations encouraged families to invest more time in income-generating activities, such as producing groundnut paste, tie and dye fabrics, and soap,  resulting in an increase in basic household assets. Through the Participatory Integrated Watershed Management Project (PIWAMP), food-crop production grew from 4,503 to 50,481 metric tons (MT) from 2006 to 2012, a 41-fold increase.

African Youth Charter comes to place of birth as Gambia hosts Banjul+10

NYC Executive Director, Mr. Lamin Darboe

The year 2016 marks ten years of the adoption of the Africa Youth Charter (AYC). Launched in Banjul, in July 2006, by the Seventh Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government, the Charter eventually entered into force on August 8, 2009.

The AYC is the first legal framework of the AU in favour of the empowerment and development of the youth on the continent. Thirty-five Member States of the AU have so far ratified the instrument, committing their nations to the fulfillment of the rights and obligations of young people, as enshrined and guaranteed in the Charter.

Ten years on next year, it is essential to take stock of the progress made, share good practices, renew commitments and map out a concrete way forward for realising the ideals of the AYC for youth, while also contributing to the attainment of the goals of AU’s Agenda 2063 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

CORY Gambia project completes 2nd badge of REVCEL in CRR

By Madi S. Njie

Group picture of the REVCEL participants, dignitaries and Facilitators at the opening

On 3^rd  December 2015, 27 participants drawn from various parts of the Central River Region North and South completed an entrepreneurship training organized under the Creating Opportunities for Rural Youth (CORY) Gambia project, coordinated by the Global Youth Innovation Network (GYIN) Gambia.

The twelve days training meant to equip young men and women with entrepreneurship skills, focusing on project and enterprise development was held at the Forestry Camp Bantaba hall in Janjanbureh, the administrative capital of CRR.