By Olimatou Coker
The Gambia Rise Project has recently collaborated with the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) and its partners to extend the cash transfer scheme.
The project aims to empower youth enterprise and support vulnerable communities, contributing to sustained economic growth and resilience to improve the coordination of social assistance and increased inclusion of extremely poor demographics, Gambia rise also seeks to drive behavioral change to improve households, health, nutrition, early childhood development, parenting and family planning within frameworks to prevent gender-based violence.
Anita Taal, the coordinator for the Rise Project, central project coordinating unit, at Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, said they visited the field just to see how things are going, interact with the beneficiaries, see how the process is going, ensure that there are no challenges in the process, and also get feedback from the beneficiaries, ensure that the entire process goes through. It should be ongoing for the next couple of weeks, in terms of the registration, verifying that the beneficiaries are on the database.
“I think that’s quite important, also with taking them through the process with the digital mobile money transfer, I think that’s a bold step moving forward where we try to digitize the process, minimize the level of cash interaction and utilize mobile money services, which is the future. Now the political will is there. We have a dedicated team who is committed to seeing the success of the project. We have made a promise to Gambian people, and I hope they’ll be able to deliver on the promise. Inshallah”.
Catherine Kutu Gibba, the Program Manager Monitoring and Evaluation and Research Manager NaNA, said the project is not only about the fund but capacity building as well and attitudinal change to ensure that even if the project is no more, they will be able to do that which they have started and carry on. “When the benefits come, they first attend a session.
“The main challenge we are facing is the fact that some household heads are no longer in existence and some have misplaced their beneficial card or the principal is no longer in existence or has relocated because of the gap, so we are trying to update our data.”
Filli Nyassi, Representative of the Directorate of Social Welfare, said as a key partner of the Gambia RISE project before they were having the SSNP which is famously called NaNA in “which we play a great role and that also paid dividend to this new project called the Gambia RISE.
“As key partner one of our key mandate look at supporting the most vulnerable group in the society and in that if issues of GRM (Grievance Restraint Mechanism) comes in our officers or staff play a key role because one of our roles is to mediate when issues happen within couples or within two people”.
Fatou Gibba, the Director of Department of Community Development, said the first project which was the SSNP all the way through to this new project called the RISE supported by the World Bank and the Government of the Gambia.
“We are partners with NaNA being the implementing entity for this component of the cash transfer”, she said.
She added that the first project cycle ended last year and then they worked on a new project called RISE which is just starting.
Alieu Badara Njie, the Head of Q Money Services, said they have been in partnership with NaNA for the last few years from the start of the project and now that there has been an extension of the RISE project, they are still involved as the payment partner for this project in the Foni.
“We pay money into the mobile wallet and on the payment day, we come on site to help them collect their funds but at the same site we also want the communities to move from not only collecting the money but using the wallet as a source of savings.”
Ebrima Sanyang, the Chief of Foni, also expressed his appreciation, saying that the project is very beneficial to his community members especially to the vulnerable people when it comes to savings, investment, and food.
“We are thankful to the people behind it and we are grateful.”
Fatou Sanyang, a beneficiary in Kalagi, said the money given to her will be very helpful to her because before this project, she wasn’t having any investment but thanks to the project she has now invested in small ruminants.
