AL–Manarah Islamic Association cleans Junkung Jammeh Hospital

Concern for a clean and healthy environment has now become a custom in the lives of Gambians. Environmentalists have ever observed that the cleanliness of the environment  in any country, is an indication of progress and development.

Being conscious of the importance attached to cleanliness of the environment, over fifty members of the AL-Manarah Islamic Association, an Islamic association based in Keneba, Kiang West District, Lower River Region, recently embarked on a massive cleansing exercise commonly referred to as set-setal at the Sulayman Junkung Jammeh Hospital in Bwiam.

The exercise was geared towards keeping the hospital clean and conducive all the time. Alhagie Sutay Kebba Ceesay, director of the association said the cleanliness of a health centre is very paramount. He said that his association is following the  Islamic religion which calls for cleanliness in all kinds. Ceesay explained that their commitment to clean the hospital was inspired by President Jammeh who is the honorary father of the association. "We decide to clean the hospital because it is the one that is closer to us" he said.

He thanked his association members for their commitment, stating that they have demonstrated true citizenship. Kebba Badjie, chief executive officer of the Sulayman Junkung Jammeh Hospital commended the members of the association for their good work. According to him, the exercise was a clear manifestation that the association is committed to national development. He also described the exercise as timely. Badjie thanked the AL-Manarah Association for their foresight and urged other associations to follow their footsteps for the attainment of a disease free- environment.

ActionAid International director for West and Central Africa visits Gambia ActionAid International director for West and Central Africa, Ms Dede Amanor-Wilks, recently arrived in The Gambia for a working visit, her second since she took up appointment with ActionAid. The reason for her visit, according to a news release from the country office of the organization, is to support ActionAid The Gambia to consolidate its work with donors, partners and The Gambia government. On Monday 16th February, the visiting ActionAid boss, accompanied by the country director, Dr Kujejatou Manneh-Jallow and other senior staff of the country office, was received by her Excellency the vice president and secretary of state for Women’s Affairs, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy in her office at State House.

She briefed the vice president on recent developments in ActionAid International, highlighting key areas of their work in the country. The regional director informed the Gambia’s vice president about the internationalisation process of ActionAid The Gambia, which she said will give the country programme more autonomy with a governing board, although it will remain part of the wider ActionAid International family.

The Africa regional office of ActionAid International is running two pilot programmes in West and East Africa on regional integration. The programme in West Africa comprises Senegal, Guinea Bissau and The Gambia, while the one in the East consists of the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi. Amanor-Wilks commended The Gambia government for its support to ActionAid The Gambia and called for greater collaboration, especially in the execution of the regional integration programme.

Dr. Kujejatou Manneh, ActionAid country director, expressed the need for closer collaboration and partnership with government and civil society in the fight against poverty. Re-emphasising the need for regional integration, she urged the secretary of state for the Interior to take the lead in contacting his counterparts in both Senegal and Guinea-Bissau to organise a forum to discuss the issues around trade.

The secretary of state for Trade, Industry & Employment, Abdou Kolley, who is also the ECOWAS focal person, disclosed that the government is piloting a programme of free movement of goods and persons within the southern part of Senegal, Guinea Bissau and The Gambia. The outcome of this pilot programme, the release stated, will inform the future direction of regional integration at the ECOWAS level.

The vice president in turn re-iterated the good work ActionAid has been doing since it was set up in The Gambia in 1979, and emphasised that right bases must be combined with service delivery because they mutually re-enforce each other. She assured Amanor-Wilks of government’s continued support in the fight against poverty. Earlier, the release went on, the secretary of state for the Interior, Ousman Sonko, sought to allay fears on the issue of all NGOs now being under his department of State. He informed the ActionAid boss that this was done not to police NGOs but to ensure transparency and accountability. He expressed happiness at the work of ActionAid, especially in conflict prevention, saying "prevention is better than cure."

He further called on the organization to provide capacity building to security personnel on human security issues, and assured them of his collaboration and support. The permanent secretary at the department of state for Finance reiterated the need for coordination among NGOs in providing information to the government on financial inflows and their areas of intervention.

On Education, the deputy permanent secretary at the department of state for Education, Pap Sey, commended ActionAid for its support to the Education sector over the years and expressed hope that it will continue. On Sunday 8th February, Amanor-Wilks visited the Brufut women’s horticultural garden which is being supported by ActionAid The Gambia, in collaboration with The Gambia government, the Dutch embassy in Dakar and a British philanthropist.

She also held talks with officials at the UNDP, FAO, and officials of the Guinea Bissau office of the organization, before travelling to Senegal, where she will hold meetings with the ActionAid country director of Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia on issues of regional integration.