UNCDF in partnership with the Government of The Gambia has been implementing the Jobs, Skills and Finance programme for Women and Youth in The Gambia within financial support from the European Union.
This programme contributes to stabilizing the economic, social and security situation of the country during the democratic transition by facilitating social inclusion and employment of the youth and women, with a specific emphasis on promoting gender equality and addressing climate change.
It does so through two components:
- Component 1: Job creation for the youth, women and local communities and equal access to employable skills development (the LoCAL mechanism is deployed under this component).
- Component 2: Improved access to finance
These components are being delivered through two UNCDF mechanisms/approaches: The Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) and YouthStart, in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC).
On the first component (creating jobs), Local authorities and communities are being supported in identifying needs in priority sectors and in planning investments accordingly. A particular emphasis is placed on ensuring investments contribute to climate resilience. Prioritized investments are delivered through cash for work (CfW) programmes for youth and women and through procurement to local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) so that jobs are created in the short to medium term.
Ward development committees (WDCs) have been identified as the closest aggregated local government entity with a planning function to partner with throughout the JSF Programme. Working with WDCs means mobilizing and improving their institutional and human resource capacity – currently categorized as low level – to plan, implement and monitor local responses, in close consultation with communities.
Thirty-two WDCs have been identified as beneficiary local governments under the JSF Programme, beginning with eight wards in two regions and upscaling to 32 wards in 4 regions.