By: Alieu Jallow
Action Aid The Gambia, on Wednesday, 4th December 2024, commenced a crucial technical advisory meeting, bringing together local stakeholders in the North Bank Region. This initiative aims to enhance transparency and accountability in the management of public resources, a critical component for fostering trust and good governance within the community.
The meeting, held at the Governor’s Office in the North Bank, gathered various representatives, including government officials, civil society organizations, and community leaders. The discussions focused on identifying challenges in public resource management and exploring innovative solutions to promote greater accountability.
Saikou Darboe, Local Rights Program Manager for the Lower Region, highlighted that the sole objective of this meeting is to bridge the gap between the right holders and the duty bearers who manage public funds. According to him, this initiative will serve as a catalyst for fostering accountability.
“What we aim to achieve, basically, at the end of this two-day program, is to ensure that the gaps are bridged between the right holders and the duty bearers. This will also serve as a catalyst to encourage accountability and transparency, which is key. If you know that you are going to be asked by your master, you do the right thing. But if you are accountable, you do it without being asked by anyone, and nobody needs to account. These are accountability mechanisms that encourage us to fund this meeting,” he outlined.
On his part, the Governor of the North Bank Region, Lamin Saidykhan, urged participants to recommit to the principles of accountability, transparency, and collaboration. He noted that only sincere partnerships among stakeholders can yield sustainable development. He also commended Action Aid, through their LRP 9 office, for their laudable initiatives in advancing good governance and institutional effectiveness in the region. He called on participants to remain steadfast in their shared purpose to serve their communities with diligence and integrity.
“As we move forward, let us remain steadfast in our shared purpose to serve our communities with diligence and integrity. Today, we can continue to make the North Bank Region a model of cooperation, innovation, and development,” he stated.
Mam Samba Joof, Executive Director of the Agency for Development of Women and Children, expressed hope to learn about the intervention areas of other stakeholders. Joof expressed dismay over the absence of such meetings in the past decade, citing how such meetings could address overlapping efforts and interventions.
“We should be able to come together as a region to share information about what we are doing to mobilize resources, but also to coordinate our activities. Sometimes, even if you look at some of the reports, we are overlapping in some areas because maybe I am not aware of X doing the same thing in the community I’m going to intervene in. But probably, if there were proper coordination, I would take my activity to another community that needs it,” he stated.
The agenda for the meeting included presentations on best practices in resource management, aimed at gathering input from all sectors of society to develop actionable strategies that can be implemented at both local and national levels.
This meeting is part of a broader initiative by Action Aid The Gambia to strengthen democratic governance and improve service delivery in the country by enhancing transparency and accountability.
