Tag Archives: The Gambia

AMA, Human Rights

African States and Partners Call for Urgent and Coordinated Action to Save Migrant Lives Ahead of IMRF

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African States and partners convene in Cairo to strengthen cooperation and advance practical solutions to prevent migrant deaths and disappearances along migration routes. Photo: IOM 2026

Geneva, Switzerland, 17 April 2026- /African Media Agency (AMA)/- African States and partners have called for stronger, coordinated action to prevent migrant deaths and address disappearances along migration routes, following a three-day technical consultation in Cairo held in line with the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM).

The consultation produced a recommendation note consolidating African operational priorities, good practices, and areas for cooperation aligned with the GCM and the UN Secretary-General’s 2024 recommendations. The note is designed to directly support African Member States’ reporting and discussions at the second International Migration Review Forum (IMRF 2026) to be held from 5–8 May 2026 at United Nations Headquarters in New York, ensuring that the lived realities of migrants and their families on the continent are reflected in global commitments.

The consultation was convened by the United Nations Network on Migration and co-organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), with the support of the Continental UN Network on Migration for Africa.

Across the world, over 82,000 migrant deaths and disappearances have been recorded since 2014, including 18,866 in Africa, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project. However large, these figures only show a sliver of the crisis; the true scale is believed to be much larger.

According to the available data, most of those who die on migration routes within and departing from Africa are never identified. Their families are left without answers, without recourse, and often without access to a support system.

“Every life lost along migration routes underscores the urgent need to strengthen collective efforts to prevent deaths and disappearances along migration routes and improve cooperation on missing migrants to protect people on the move,” said Justin MacDermott, IOM Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“The exchanges during this consultation have identified concrete actions on prevention, search and identification of the missing, support to their families, and better documentation of the crisis, which can inform the IMRF process and help advance policies that address the crisis of missing migrants,” he added.

The consultation brought together more than 50 participants, including representatives from government institutions, the African Union, the League of Arab States, United Nations partners, humanitarian organizations, civil society actors, and technical experts, from Djibouti, The Gambia, Libya, Morocco, Niger, and Tunisia, and was organized around five pillars: prevention of migrant deaths and disappearances; data and foresight, search and identification of the missing; support to affected families, and accountability and justice.

Participants reviewed good practices from across the continent, including coordination mechanisms, search and rescue approaches, and processes related to the identification of the remains of migrants who have died. They emphasized that effective responses require cooperation across government institutions and partners at national and transnational levels, and that humanitarian assistance to migrants in distress must be protected.

The consultation also highlighted the rights and needs of families of missing migrants. Participants underscored the importance of accessible mechanisms through which families can seek information about missing relatives and stressed the need for sustained institutional cooperation and cross-border collaboration.

Participants further discussed persistent gaps in data on migrant deaths and disappearances, which create a skewed perception of the crisis and undermine effective responses. Strengthening ethical and disaggregated data collection, improving transnational information sharing, and using data to identify high-risk areas and inform humanitarian assistance were highlighted as necessary steps to enable more effective responses.

“Saving lives and responding to the plight of missing migrants requires cooperation on national and transnational levels,” said Anna Praz, ICRC Head of Delegation in Cairo. “Above all, States have a critical role to play in developing technical capacities, policies and legal frameworks to address this important humanitarian issue.”

Yet, there is also a role for civil society and local actors that needs to be preserved in the context of dwindling humanitarian funding. As Dr. Amal Emam, CEO of the Egyptian Red Crescent noted, “Through Humanitarian Service Points, Red Cross and Red Crescent staff and volunteers provide support, care, and safe spaces for people on the move.”

Participants also agreed on the importance of follow-up mechanisms to maintain momentum beyond the consultation, including a working group focused on missing migrants along key African corridors and a shared resource repository consolidating tools, guidance, and methodologies to support national implementation.

This event comes at a pivotal moment, following the Ministerial Meeting of African GCM Champion Countries held on 1 April in Cairo, where Champion Countries called for a unified African position ahead of the 2026 IMRF, emphasizing the need for strengthened collaboration to ensure the protection and safety of migrants through whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches, among other priorities outlined in the Joint Ministerial Statement.

The United Nations Network on Migration and partners stand ready to support African Member States in ensuring that the priorities identified in Cairo are clearly reflected throughout the IMRF process. This includes providing technical support, elevating African perspectives, supporting national reporting, and accompanying States in the implementation of their commitments.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf International Organization for Migration

For more information, please visit IOM’s Media Centre.

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AMA, Environment

2030 Water, Sanitation and Climate resilience goals: 5 critical things African Ministers can do now

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NAIROBI, Kenya, 10 December 2025-/African Media Agency(AMA)/-There is a $130 billion annual investment gap hindering the world’s mission to achieve universal access to climate-resilient water and sanitation services by the year 2030, Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) reports. In Africa, the gap is estimated at no less than an additional $30 billion annually.

In October 2025, nearly 50 ministerial level delegates worldwide gathered in Madrid at the 2025 Sector Ministers’ Meeting to discuss ways to better integrate water, sanitation, and climate action goals at a governmental level.

For participating African delegates, this was an opportunity to include African perspectives on the global stage ahead of COP30 and the UN 2026 Water Conference. It was also essential to help establish the globe’s five-pillar guidelines.

5 critical Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Climate statistics in Africa calling for critical measures

As outlined in the ensuing “High-Level Leaders Compact – the Madrid Commitment to Action” by SWA, these five priorities from an African perspective are as follows:

Political and Institutional Integration

Priority #1: Embed water, sanitation, hygiene, and climate priorities into national adaptation plans, climate commitments, and development strategies.

In 2018, 71% of African countries were in the medium-low to very low categories of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) implementation, according to a report by UNEP. Fast forward to 2024 and UNEP’s “Progress on implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management” report revealed that none of the African sub-regions are on track to achieve the aspirational global SDG 6.5 target of ‘Very High’ (91-100%) IWRM implementation by 2030.

There lies a critical gap in governance due to these stagnations that isolated sector projects cannot fix. It’s time for nations to move beyond fragmented management and operationalize political and institutional integration.

Ministers must work to embed water, sanitation, and hygiene mandates directly into central national adaptation plans and broader development strategies. Governments have the power to secure the political leverage and institutional coherence required to turn these IWRM metrics around, to accelerate progress and reach the SDG targets.

Inclusive, Rights-Based Services

Priority #2: Use data to identify and reach the most vulnerable populations, children, women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and displaced communities, while promoting transparency and community participation. 

Despite progress recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa since the 1990s, the latest Joint Monitoring Report from UNICEF and the World Health Organization estimates that 1 in 4 people still lack safely managed drinking water and 2 out of 5 people lack safely managed sanitation.

As women, girls, and children remain the most vulnerable, these stats are concerning for Africa.

The failure to achieve universal access is a clear indication that broad, generalized interventions are not sufficient. To close this gap and prioritize those suffering most, governments must immediately implement inclusive and rights-based services.
 

The only way to move beyond these alarming statistics is to use high-quality, disaggregated data to accurately identify, locate, and track the concerned underserved communities and groups of people. This should ensure that future WASH investments are precisely targeted, transparent, and driven by the needs of the most vulnerable.

Resilient Systems and Risk Management

Priority #3: Incorporate climate and environmental risk assessments into planning, and promote nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration.

A September 2025 publication by the Sudanese American Physicians Association (SAPA) underlined the direct link between climate change, water scarcity, and displacement on the continent.

The study asserts that 2 million people in East Africa have been displaced due to drought and conflicts, with migration into urban areas straining cities like Nairobi.

In 2024, Earth.org warned that climate change could displace up to 700 million people in Africa by 2030 due to increasing water scarcity and related shocks. With the figure currently standing at 400 million, the High-Level Leaders Compact priority for resilient systems and risk management is legitimately high on the agenda.

To build true resilience against these shocks, leaders must move beyond reactive measures and proactively incorporate climate and environmental risk assessments into all levels of urban planning. Investing in nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration is essential to stabilizing these vulnerable regions.

The approach is straightforward: Address the root environmental degradation driving these migration crises.

Sustainable and Innovative Financing

Priority #4: Mobilize domestic and international resources through green and blue bonds, results-based financing, and public-private partnerships.

According to the World Bank, public-private partnerships account for only 3 percent of total water sector investment in Africa, with state-owned enterprises and public entities providing the remaining 97 percent of investment. This is far below private participation in other infrastructure sectors, underscoring the need for stronger mechanisms to attract and sustain investment in water.

Unlocking greater resources will require improving incentives for investors, strengthening project pipelines, and deploying targeted de-risking instruments that reduce uncertainty while safeguarding public value. Ensuring coherence with the High-Level Leaders Compact on Water Security and Resilience will further help align public and private action.

With these conditions in place, tools such as green and blue bonds, results-based financing, and well-structured public-private partnerships can more effectively expand financing for water security and sanitation systems.

Political Leadership and Accountability

Priority #5: Ensure that water and sanitation remain at the top of global and national policy agendas, including through mutual accountability frameworks such as those facilitated by Sanitation and Water for All (SWA).

Sub-Saharan Africa loses an estimated 5% of its annual GDP due to poor sanitation, lack of water or its contamination. Highlighting the seriousness of the matter and the responsibility of ministers, a preamble statement from the High-Level Leaders Compact on Water Security & Resilience declares:

“We acknowledge that fragmented policies, weak coordination, and insufficient and inefficient financing continue to challenge progress. Addressing these barriers requires strengthened political leadership, inclusive whole-of-government collaboration, inclusive governance, and more predictable and efficient investments that meet the needs of all people, particularly the most vulnerable.”

In the aftermath of the Madrid Commitment on Water Security, Sanitation & Climate Resilience

As the rest of the world, African ministers have pledged to “collaborate with Sanitation and Water for All partnership to track progress through systematic monitoring, aligned with national systems and global frameworks like SDG 6 indicators, broad multi-stakeholder collaboration, and continual adaptive learning.”

The compact produced at the 2025 Sector Ministers’ Meeting has been endorsed by 29 states, more than half of which are African.

Indeed, Burundi, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda and The Gambia joined the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW), the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in the Water and Sanitation Sector (CONIWAS), UNICEF and 14 other organizations in endorsing and pushing for the implementation of the five global priorities identified in the High-Level Leaders Compact on Water Security & Resilience.

The door remains open for more governments to join this compact and express their serious intention to achieve sanitation and water security as well as resilience which is needed for healthy populations, economic development, and environmental sustainability

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of Sanitation and Water for All (SWA)

About Sanitation and Water for All (SWA)

For 15 years, the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) partnership, hosted by UNICEF, has united governments, civil society, private sector actors, and development partners to advance the human rights to water and sanitation for all. With over 500 partners worldwide, SWA drives political commitment, strengthens institutions, and promotes accountability to achieve lasting results.

For more information on the 2025 Sector Ministers’ Meeting (SMM), visit www.sanitationandwaterforall.org/SMM2025.

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AMA, Politics

The Gambia: Laying the Foundations for Stable Growth and Jobs

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Washington, USA, 26 November2025-/African Media Agency (AMA)/-The World Bank Group today approved $45 million in grant financing from the International Development Association (IDA) to support the Government of The Gambia’s efforts to enhance domestic revenue mobilization, lay key infrastructure, regulatory and skill foundations for private sector development, and strengthen climate resilience.

“The Gambia is on a good growth trajectory despite the external shocks of recent years, but growth remains fragile due to a combination of structural weaknesses including climate vulnerability. To sustain its growth and improve the living standards of the population, it is essential for The Gambia to pursue and accelerate transformational reforms,” stresses Ephrem Niyongabo, World Bank Economist and Task Team Leader of the project. 

This is the first development policy support operation designed to underpin reforms conducive to inclusive and sustainable growth. The program is based on three pillars. The first pillar seeks to increase government revenue by broadening the tax base and rationalizing tax expenditures. The second pillar seeks to foster private sector-led growth by tackling bottlenecks in key enabling sectors such as energy, telecom and business environment while advancing human capital development, with a focus on expanding opportunities for women and youth. The third pillar aims at strengthening the foundations for The Gambia’s resilience to climate challenges by establishing a robust institutional and legal framework to guide climate action and coastal zone management. 

“This financing will enable The Gambia to carry out reforms to build fiscal space, facilitate the development of key sectors, improve human capital and business environment to enhance participation of the private sector in the economy. The proposed operation provides a critical line to improve access to essential services, enhance women and youth employment opportunities while enhancing environmental sustainability” said Franklin Mutahakana, World Bank Group Resident Representative in The Gambia.

This operation has been designed to meet the authorities’ priorities outlined in the Gambia Recovery-Focused National Development Plan, 2023-2027. The reform program supports the green, resilient, and inclusive development agenda by strengthening the country’s adaptation and resilience to climate change through robust legal and institutional framework for climate governance and climate resilience, ensuring that territorial and sectoral planning integrate climate adaptation and disaster risk management. 

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of World Bank

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Regional

Gambia: Vice President Badara Alieu Joof is dead

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The Gambia’s Vice-President Badara Alieu Joof has been reported dead during his travel to India.

His boss, President Adama Barrow announced his death in a statement indicating that his vice died after a short illness.

Although the president didn’t mention whether Mr Joof was seeking medical attention while in India, local media reported that he was absent from the public for months.

Joof became President Barrow’s deputy following the December 2021 presidential victory for a second term.

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President Adama Barrow first appointed Joof as his Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology on 22 February 2017, during his first tenure as president.

Joof previously worked as the World Bank Liaison Officer to the Gambia. He was instrumental in introducing a new education policy to the Gambia.

In 2014, Joof was appointed as an Education Specialist in Dakar, Senegal to the World Bank.

Gambia’s Alieu Touray takes over as ECOWAS commission president

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source: Africa Feeds