By Fatou Sanneh
The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources (MECCNAR) through the National Environment Agency (NEA) in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Secretariat recently organised a two-day national dialogue on GEF-8 with the theme “multi-stakeholder dialogue to address environmental challenges of The Gambia through GEF funding’’.
The dialogue is a means of providing support to The Gambia to assist in deciding how to optimise the use of the country’s GEF-8 allocation.
Highlighting the importance of the dialogue, the Hon. Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, Mrs. Rohey John Manjang stated that the dialogue will enhance understanding of GEF-8 strategies and policies and take a decision on participation in the various impact programmes. It is also a strategic tool to promote the integration of global environmental concepts into national strategy and policy formulation, accounting and regular procedures.
“The importance of this dialogue cannot be over-emphasised, taking into consideration the increasing rate of environmental degradation coupled with the adverse impact of climate change and loss of biological diversity, thus threatening food security and health of our population,’’ she said.
She added: “With the wide range of representation such as local authorities, NGOs, public and private sector and with the guidance of the development partners, we will surely enable the identification of potential projects that will address our current needs and have a greater impact on the most vulnerable rural community, whose livelihood entirely depend on the fragile ecosystem.’’
Minister John Manjang commended the participants for their commitment to the fight against environmental-related hazards and climate change.
She assured that her ministry will continue to create an enabling environment and a level playing ground for all stakeholders and international development partners to ensure that the benefits of GEF projects are maximised.
She thanked the GEF Secretariat for the financial support and technical assistance, particularly to the least developed countries and countries with economies in transition, including The Gambia.
Speaking at the event, Executive Director of the National Environment Agency, Dr. Dawda Badgie said the country is firmly committed to tackling the problem of conservation of biodiversity, land degradation, and climate change, which is demonstrated by numerous national environmental policies and international obligations that the country has signed.
“Gambia’s formidable commitment to biodiversity conservation is also demonstrated by the fact that 20% of the land area is set aside as a protected area by 2030,’’ he added.
Dr. Badgie informed that the NEA as the operational focal point has assumed an active role in coordination to ensure that the GEF funding is effectively directed towards the country’s priority to tackle environmental challenges, adding that the coordination role will be further strengthened by the continuous consultation with the stakeholders and the development partners.
Representing the UN Resident Coordinator, Fatoumatta Sanyang said that with The Gambia recently updating its NDCs, validation of the long strategy, and the development of the green recovery focus NDP, this GEF -8 funding has come at an opportune time.
Ibrahima Sow, a representative of the GEF Secretariat stated that GEF programmes are responses to the global aspirations for development pathways that are nature positive, carbon neutral, and pollution-free to address interdependencies between human wellbeing and a healthy planet.
Gambia has been benefiting from GEF funding cycles since its inception in 1991 with the latest allocation to The Gambia for GEF-8 amounting to about 12.08 million US Dollars in a bit to address the environmental challenges in the areas of climate change, land degradation, and biodiversity loss.
