Gambian gov’t, UNDP sign US$ 5.71 million PACD programme
The Gambia Government has signed an agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the implementation of the Programme for Accelerated Community Development (PACD), part of larger programme to bridge the gap between rural and urban areas on basic social infrastructure.
Read full statement:
Programme for Accelerated Community Development (PACD) is part of larger programme to bridge the gap between rural and urban on basic social infrastructure, the pilot phase is to the tune of USD 5.71 million for a period of one year and resources were jointly mobilized by GoTG and UNDP.
The PACD model provides a vehicle for a multi-sectoral approach to addressing poverty and inequality at community level. This will help government to respond to social demands through a partnership with development partners to ensure accelerated, multi-pronged, participatory, and accountable delivery of services particularly to far-to-reach populations.
This will revitalize and transform the economy for the wellbeing of all Gambians and particularly address the persistent and serious disparities between urban and rural areas in terms of access to basic services including water, energy and road infrastructure as well as addressing existing inequalities, and disparities and injustices in access to socio-economic infrastructure.
The model aligns with international development norms of aiming to keep people out of poverty through a multi-dimensional approach. It will help unleash further opportunities to strengthen national capacities, promote south-south cooperation and more importantly, improve the conditions of the people, particularly women and girls in poor communities. Gambia has not had a strong record of government cost-sharing but with the entry of this government, faced with the capacity challenges, this initiative provides an opportunity to move into this arena.
Furthermore, it will be a critical response to inclusive development for greater equity and social justice in line with the aims and aspirations of the National Development Plan and SDGs. This will ultimately result in achieving true national and inclusive development that enables all Gambians; wherever they are, to benefit from national resources in order to improve their living conditions by developing their local potential and enhancing access to basic social services and combatting COVID-19. Hence, the PACD management structure will actively participate in the national effort for quick response to COVID-19 outbreak.
The aim of this program is to contribute to the significant improvement of the living conditions of people in the rural areas through improving sustainable access to basic socio-economic infrastructure and services, and the creation of a local economy for sustained and improved socio-economic development, social justice and equality.
The programme will have five components namely; improving access to portable water, rural electrification, rural roads infrastructure, food security (post-harvest and processing equipment and exotic livestock breed for milk production) and sustainability of services and assets
The expected results of the PACD, are namely; increased access to basic socio-economic infrastructure and facilities (rural roads, energy and water), improved agricultural productivity and livestock through improved access to production and processing equipment, and improved livestock breeds, reduced disparities in socio-economic wellbeing between rural and urban communities, reduced work burden on women and girls and sustainability of the Assets beyond the project implementation
