Ramesh Singh, the outgoing chief executive officer of ActionAid International and Dede Amanor-Wilks, the International Director for West and Central Africa left The Gambia over the weekend after a six-day working visit, a press release from the ActionAid Gambia Office revealed.
 
During their stay, they met with ActionAid staff from Guinea Bissau, Cameroun and The Gambia. They also held talks with Her Excellency the vice president, Dr Aja Isatou Njie Saidy, AATG partners and the proposed board members. According to the release, during talks with the vice president, Singh, whose tenure of office with ActionAid International ends in June, expressed sincere thanks and appreciation to the Gambia government for giving ActionAid the space to complement government's development efforts. 
 
He said he owed a great deal to the government for its tremendous support and care to ActionAid The Gambia (AATG) which he noted has allowed the agency to grow in confidence and credibility. On AATG's internationalisation process, Mr. Singh expressed pride in AATG's selection of the proposed members of the board of directors, whom he described as high-powered and credible. The board members will be part of the larger ActionAid International board, and will help strengthen AATG's accountability in the country. 
 
For her part, Her Excellency the vice president commended ActionAid for its interventions in what she described as critical areas of concern to government, citing the support being given to groundnut marketing. This, she noted, has made significant impact on the lives of the people. The vice president expressed confidence in AATG's programme delivery with the existence of the proposed board of directors. Mr. Singh and Ms. Amanor-Wilks were accompanied to State House by the country director and senior officials of AATG, the executive director of Tango Ousman Yarbo and the director of NGO Affairs Agency Lamin Dibba. Both Yarbo and Dibba hailed the support of AATG to the NGO community and urged the Agency to continue strengthening the capacities of smaller NGOs.
 
CEO Singh hails from Nepal. He began his career as a local staff with ActionAid The Gambia in 1984 where he served for four years as head of the then Programme Support Unit, largely responsible for agriculture. This visit is his second to The Gambia as chief executive officer of ActionAid International.