In The Gambia, UNFPA plays a leading role in data generation and management. Over the years, the Country Office has built partnerships with youth, women’s and religious networks and civil society organisations. With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Country Office realised the need to work differently and smarter and the development of a new UNFPA Strategic Plan offers that opportunity as the Country Office prepares to develop the 8th UNFPA-Government of The Gambia Country Programme Document (CPD).
As a result, the Country Office on 11 May 2021 mobilised strategic partners for a consultation to ensure that perspectives from The Gambia are considered in the development of the UNFPA 2022-25 Strategic Plan and also inform the direction of the next CPD in alignment to the National Development Plan and UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.
The consultation was presided over by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare and the Director of the National Population Commission Secretariat, UNFPA Country Representative other dignitaries from government and civil society organisations.
The UNFPA Representative in The Gambia Mr. Kunle Adeniyi reminded partners that the new Strategic Plan is a call to action to accelerate progress, because without acceleration, the transformative results will not be achieved. He encouraged everyone to ensure that their contributions support the Strategic Plan to be ambitious and inspirational and ensure that it leads to sexual and reproductive rights for all with human rights as a central point in achieving the transformative agenda.
In order to increase engagement and ensure that more people participate in the consultations, the Country Office’s social media platforms were used to call for virtual contributions to the discussions through quizzes on Twitter and Facebook. This use of digital media was a critical engagement platform especially for young people.
The Consultations provided the Country Office better insight of engaging partners in the future including on the new UNFPA-Gambia Government Country Programme. The Consultations on the Strategic Plan 2022-25 will continue even after the finalisation of the document to ensure that the momentum created continues and to make UNFPA’s interventions and programmes more people-centered.
Media contact:
Haddy Jonga - Programme Analyst Communications, UNFPA The Gambia jonga@unfpa.org
