Contact Details:
Head Office
address
Action Aid
Website:
www.actionaid.org.uk
MDI Road, Kanifing South
PMB 450, Serrekunda
The Gambia
West Africa
Telephone number:
4392244
4392029
4392004
9966045
Fax:
4392425
Email: aatg.admin@actionaid.org
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Background Information:
Action Aid
The Gambia is a Non-Governmental organization which began operating in
The Gambia in 1979, and now works with 200,000 people. It supports the
basic rights and needs of poor people, working at a practical level to
improve their access to services and lobbying
government and other
decision-makers to change policies and practices that affect their
lives.
It is an affiliate of AATG UK which is a Charity and non-profit making
organisation. AATG is an International Non-governmental Organisation
working with poor communities and other stakeholders in eradicating
poverty. The organisation is non-political, non religious and non
racial. AATG is a non-profit organization with equal opportunities for
employment for everyone.
Wherever possible, Action Aid works with local
organisations so that
change is appropriate and long-lasting. In the area where AATG
operates, there are over 700 local associations, whose approach is
based on the Mandinka word TESITO, meaning self reliance.
Mission:
Their mission is to enable
poor and marginalised people achieve their basic needs and rights and
thus ensure social equity and justice.
Geographical Areas of Operations:
Kuntaur :
The area covers 960 square km, divides into four chiefdoms and is home
to 59,465 people. Eighty percent of the population in this area are
subsistence farmers.
Falladu West:
785 square km, home to 68,800 people, this hilly area divides into two
chiefdoms. Forest areas have been cleared, bush fires are common and
rainfall is low. Ninety-eight per cent of the population are farmers.
Wuli/Sandu:
covering an area of 858 square km, home to around 35,023 inhabitants,
this area is characterised by high river banks and large gullies
caused by severe erosion
Gender Policy:
Traditional norms and values place restrictions on the lives and well
being of girls, boys, women and men in many, if not all societies in
the world. With regards to education, decision-making power, paid
employment and access to productive resources such as land, to name a
few, boys and men tend to be favoured, while women and girls
experience greater restrictions.
In The Gambia for example, the potentials of girls and women, who
constitute half the population, are not realised because of social
imbalances. These coupled with insensitivity to certain instruments
that have been laid down to protect the rights and dignity of girls
and women make it impossible for their potentials to be fully tapped.
ActionAid's new strategy of Fighting Poverty Together and its
corresponding Africa strategy Ingendo require that they put the
challenge to get boys, girls, men and women to embrace one another for
the common good at the heart of their new approach to poverty
eradication.
Education Advocacy Campaign:
The main purpose of the campaign at national level is to assist
government to develop and promote local policies and practices which
would enhance the provision of quality education for all, particularly
the poor and marginalised people. At Regional level, the national
campaign networks are linked to Africa-Network Campaign for Education
For All (ANCEFA). This body is also a member of the Global Campaign
for Education and Elimu Campaign for Education. All these linkages are
meant to create that south/north movement towards the provision of
education for all by southern governments, through civil society
participation in acting as a watchdog of the poor and marginalised
people.
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