By Binta Jaiteh
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) yesterday held a brief discussion with its donor partners as the commission seeks 40% funding to effectively accomplish its desired tasks in the country,
The meeting was held at the Ocean Bay, Bakau.
Representing the Minister of Finance at the forum, Mr Momodou Taal, deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance said the rights commission is one of the trustiest institutions created by Barrow-led government despite its relative infancy.
“To achieve such a reputation the NHRC has been heavily supported by the government along with key development partners including the UN System in The Gambia, African Union, and most recently the British High Commission. For this support, I extend my sincere appreciation to these government partners and urge them and other development partners to continue supporting the work of the Commission,” he appealed.
According to him, the work of the NHRC is by no means a small responsibility as the commission is tasked with promoting and protecting human rights in our country, “our recent history demonstrates the necessity for such a body to ensure human rights violations this country experienced not recur.”
“Through the work of the NHRC, we will be able to restore a culture of respect for human rights in our country ensuring that we bequeath to posterity a Gambia where the fundamental human rights and freedoms of all. To fulfill its mandate in 2020 the NHRC with support from Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and UNDP developed its first five–year Strategic Plan and Resource Mobilisation Plan to guide its work from 2021- 2025,” Mr Taal explained.
Meanwhile, Seraphine Wakana, United Nations Resident Coordinator in The Gambia said: “human rights are reflected in the United Nations (UN) Charter as one of the core purposes of the organization.”
“The duties and responsibilities for upholding these universal human rights, values and principles allocated to me as the Resident Coordinators and The Gambia UN Country (UNCT) has a significant bearing on the UN’s impact in The Gambia,” she added.
According to her, the three pillars of the UN system human rights development and peace security are interlinked and mutually reinforcing adding that it contributes to promote all three pillars built squarely and explicitly on the principles set out in the UN Charter.
She said the new Gambia has set a path intended to respect and promote human rights one of their key partners is the NHRC establishment by an Act of the National Assembly in 2017.