Gambian government representatives, partners and community representatives gathered in the capital Banjul today to acknowledge the results achieved through the Jobs Skills and Finance for Women and Youth in The Gambia, a programme implemented by the UN Capital Development Fund in partnership with the International Trade Centre.

While funding for this stage is coming to an end, activities focusing on adaptation to climate change are set to be scaled up with the Government of the Gambia committing national resources using a UNCDF-designed model for action.

The JSF Programme, funded by the European Union, launched in 2018 taking a whole of society approach to supporting the government’s transition to multi-party democracy with targeted actions to address social and economic needs that had long suffered from under-investment. Activities positively impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of Gambians and focused on the promotion of access to finance, reinforcing decentralization processes, and strengthening national capacities to support local economic development with a particular focus on women and youth, while simultaneously improving the climate change resilience of communities.

“We are happy to partner with UNCDF on this project[….] It’s a project about ownership and we are happy to take ownership as the Ministry of Finance. So we are collaborating with the Ministry of Lands, Local Government and Religious Affairs and we are committed to going all the way. To those who have benefited: you have the backing of government. This is not a closing, this is a new beginning,” said Mustapha Samateh, Director of Budget at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.

“The whole project is all about impact, these are real stories – these are not Hollywood,” said Mr Samateh of the videos shown at the event, which took place at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre. “These are real efforts that have helped to change people’s lives.”

With EU funds of 15 million euros, committed through the 11th European Development Fund, the JSF Programme served as a vehicle to implement the Government of The Gambia’s national development priorities. A stated goal of the JSF Programme was the stabilization of the economic, social and security situation of the country during the democratic transition by facilitating social inclusion and employment of the youth and women, with a specific emphasis on promoting gender equality and addressing climate change. Local elections took place peacefully across The Gambia earlier this month.

“The JSF Programme was indeed designed in response to a priority of both the EU and The Gambia with the aim of stabilising the economic and social situation of the country in the early days of the transition,” said Stephane Meert, Head of Cooperation at the EU delegation to The Gambia. “Those times were not easy, one had to restart the economic machine. The aim was the people would feel the benefits of that democracy. I am pleased to say the JSF Programme has delivered on this.”

The JSF Programme used the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility approach, designed and managed by UNCDF, to channel performance-based grants to local governments for locally led adaptation to climate change. Based on results achieved, the government has pledged to continue to use the LoCAL approach beyond the life cycle of the JSF Programme committing the government’s own resources. The LoCAL Facility was designed by UNCDF over ten years ago and today is being implemented or designed for implementation in 34 countries across Africa, Asia the Caribbean and Pacific.

“The government has committed to continue with LoCAL beyond the life of the project. Having a government decide to allocate part of its own limited national budget to a project, to enable it to continue, is really quite unique. Congratulations to UNCDF for delivering on this,” added the EU’s representatitive Mr Meert.

The JSF Programme directly benefitted over 45,000 rural Gambians, delivering a mixture of training, skills development and cooperation with communities to spearhead locally led adaptation to the climate crisis across 32 of the country’s 122 wards. In addition, some 301,600 individuals indirectly benefitted from JSF Programme investments and activities. Over 5,000 temporary jobs injected finance into local economies over the four years, enabling individuals to set up their own green businesses and enterprises – a number of these entrepreneurs were present at the closing event to share their experiences.

“I’m very happy that I was able to get the skills to work on the culvert project, because I am now a professional mason, and a successful poultry farmer,” said JSF Programme participant Gidom Sabally in a video played at the event, though Mr Sabally sat in the assembled crowd of over 200 people. “I have been able to fund more technical training, and earn an advanced level diploma, and put my kids through school. My life is far better than it was before,” he added, to an enthusiastic round of applause and cheers.

Scores of individuals who benefitted – or whose communities benefitted - from their involved in the JSF Programme, plus representatives from Gambian companies, attended the event to tell their stories, showcase their wares or highlight the business skills and advances they have achieved.

“We focused on an integrated programme that provided green jobs,” said Niania Dabo, UNCDF project coordinator in The Gambia. “At UNCDF and in the UN we always talk about reaching the last mile – and in this project we really did this to make sure that the people really felt the positive change.”

Background

For full details of results and impact delivered through the JSF Programme, visit this webpage.

UNCDF
The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is the United Nations' flagship catalytic financing entity for the world’s 46 Least Developed Countries (LDCs). With its unique capital mandate and focus on the LDCs, UNCDF works to invest and catalyse capital to support these countries in achieving the sustainable growth and inclusiveness envisioned by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Doha Programme of Action for the least developed countries, 2022–2031.

UNCDF builds partnerships with other UN organizations, as well as private and public sector actors, to achieve greater impact in development; specifically by unlocking additional resources and strengthening financing mechanisms and systems contributing to transformation pathways, focusing on such development themes as green economy, digitalization, urbanization, inclusive economies, gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.

A hybrid development finance institution and development agency, UNCDF uses a combination of capital instruments (deployment, financial & business advisory and catalysation) and development instruments (technical assistance, capacity development, policy advice, advocacy, thought leadership, and market analysis and scoping) which are applied across five priority areas (inclusive digital economies, local transformative finance, women’s economic empowerment, climate, energy & biodiversity finance, and sustainable food systems finance).

For more information visit: www.uncdf.org

ITC
The International Trade Centre is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. ITC assists small and medium-sized enterprises in developing and transition economies to become more competitive in global markets, thereby contributing to sustainable economic development within the frameworks of the Aid-for-Trade agenda and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

For more information, visit www.intracen.org.

Find out more about LoCAL here

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