By Olimatou Coker
Ecowas on Friday presented a cheque of D50 million to The Gambia to support internally displaced persons and refugees in the country. The cheque was presented at the Ecowas Resident Representative Office in Fajara.
The fund is geared towards providing sustainable and decent living conditions for refugees and internally displaced persons particularly in the West Coast Region.
It will provide humanitarian assistance to over 300 households hosting hundreds of refugees and over 1,700 internally displaced persons.
The fund will also be used to support the establishment of horticultural gardens and construction of boreholes in communities hosting the refugees.
Dr Sintiki Tarfa Ugbe, the director of humanitarian social affairs at the Ecowas Commission, emphasised the need for local partnership in the implementation of humanitarian support.
She expressed her optimism on the expected impact of the project on beneficiaries and host communities.
“It’s a historic event whenever you have an opportunity to be able to provide support to vulnerable populations, not just in The Gambia but all over our region, as it aligns with the strategic objectives of the management of the Ecowas commission,” she said.
The Gambia Red Society secretary general Ebou Faye-Nije explained that the objective was to provide timely cash assistance of D7,000 per quarter for up to 1,774 internally displaced persons and households, dig boreholes and build community gardens as a means of livelihood support through cash transfers using mobile money.
Ismaila Saidy, senior economist at the Ministry of Trade and the Ecowas National Office, said the project will help ensure sustainable livelihoods for refugees and the internally displaced underlining the need to safeguard the rights and dignity of refugees.
