The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Amadou Jallow
26 November 2009
The government of The Gambia, through the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and the National Planning Commission and the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) The Gambia, is currently preparing to pilot a national volunteering system in the countryÂ's education sector, following a feasibility study conducted by the VSO on how national volunteering could promote active citizenship and support the attainment of development objectives.
This was followed by another feasibility study by the United Nations Voluntary Programme. Both studies showed positive responses towards institutionalizing national volunteering in The Gambia. As a follow-up to the feasibility studies, the VSO Gambia funded a study tour to Ghana to see the level of that countryÂ's national volunteering system.The three institutions yesterday convened a day stakeholderÂ's debriefing season intended to share the lessons learnt from the study tour and to solicit their views in the designing and implementation of national volunteering in The Gambia.Kaddijatou Njie, director of VSO, The Gambia, said the philosophy of national volunteerism started some eighteen months ago as an idea and is now becoming a reality. To attain the successful implementation of the programme, she said, there is need for dialogue between stakeholders to reach a consensus. According to her, VSO recognized the importance of the engagement of people in social action, with a practical stake in their own communities.
The 2008 feasibility study on National Volunteering in The Gambia according to her, indicated that volunteering has been a major development strategy used in the villages and towns in the country. While commending the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and the National Planning Commission for their commitment in the attainment of the national education objectives, Njie expressed hope that the initiative will be successfully attained.Babucarr Boye, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, described the initiative as a Â'landmarkÂ' in the history of The Gambia, but was quick to add that the philosophy of volunteerism has been in the countryÂ's culture for a long time.
According to him, they have been trying the concept of volunteering in the education sector in the areas of night watchmen and caretakers in a move to employing them later.The Voluntary Service Overseas and the National Planning Commission, he said have been working with his ministry and that during those days, they have been struggling to have sufficient teachers in schools but yet the need for volunteers is eminent. Boye thanked the Voluntary Service Overseas and the National Planning Commission for their commitment to collaborate with them and called on other stakeholders to support them in ensuring the attainment of the objectives.
Abdou Touray, the director general, National Planning Commission, said the programme came at a time when Gambia is reviewing its second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, which is placed at risk by the current lack of capacity to deliver key priority pro-poor programmes and activities. Â"It has been found that we are not optimally utilizing our limited human resources. While many remain unemployed, a lot of our established post remained unfulfilled and tasks unattended, even though most of our people are willing partners in development,Â" he observed.
Touray then informed the gathering that work has already started as recommended by the studies to establish a framework for the facilitation of volunteering and voluntary services in The Gambia.
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