Civil society organizations, trade unions and private sector associations in The Gambia have called on all citizens, associations and all stakeholders to recommit themselves to the fight against COVID 19.
A statement, made available, warned that the rate at which the virus is spreading poses clear danger to the very existence of the Gambia.
They also reviewed the state of affairs of the government response to the pandemic and agreed that a major paradigm shift is needed towards a comprehensive national COVID 19 response.
The non-sate actors pointed out that with huge amounts of financial resources and materials provided to the government from both local and international sources, there still remains huge gaps in the delivery of health services and the effective functioning of testing, treatment and quarantine centres.
“We have observed systemic challenges in the government response. This has raised immense concern that if there is no urgent engagement with the government and the National Assembly among other stakeholders, the Gambia runs the risk of a major catastrophe,” the statement said.
The statement added: “In light of these concerns, the non-sate actors have constituted a five-person taskforce to engage with the Minister of Health, Dr Amadou Lamin Samateh, and the COVID 19 response coordinator, Yaya Sanyang. The purpose of the meeting is for non-state actors to receive first-hand information from the primary sources about the state of affairs of their interventions in terms of progress and challenges.”
“We hope with this meeting, non-state actors will be able to understand the situation and therefore identify specific issues and concerns upon which we could act to address them in collaboration with other stakeholders. The meeting with health officials will therefore determine the next steps to be taken,” the statement said.
The statement said the non-state actors have resolved to continue this engagement in order to ensure that the Gambian government provides adequate leadership and effective management of the response to this pandemic.
“For that matter, we wish to take all necessary steps within our limitations to ensure that there is efficiency and effective coordination as well as transparency and accountability in the fight against COVID 19,” the statement added.
