Tostan-Gambia, the only English speaking country in Tostan International intervention countries so far, is said to be doing well and has gone very far in raising the flag of Tostan International in the international arena.

This was disclosed during the introductory remarks by Ansu Kambai, Tostan -Gambia national coordinator at an information seminar on Tuesday, where over 35 people drawn from within the Upper River Region (URR) converged on the regional educational directorate in Basse Mansajang for a one-day information seminar on the Tostan’s implementation activities in the region.

Organised by Tostan and funded by Swedish Code and Nike, the seminar is part of the project implementation approach to Tostan, exchange of programmes strategies and objectives in the form of an informational seminar with development partners in the region of URR, which is of paramount importance to Tostan.

The objective of the seminar is to share TOSTAN’s Community Empowerment Programme objectives, strategies and state of implementation of activities with their partners in order to share with them and also to obtain their feedbacks, recommendations and way forward to enhance performance as well as strengthening partnership amongst them.

Kambai informed the gathering that from all indications, The Gambia is doing very well and has gone very far in raising the flag of Tostan international in the international arena. “Here in The Gambia, we are among the countries with the highest number of participants per centre with lot of community-led initiatives with the participation of all,” he said, expressing hope that with this momentum, the programme can be extended to more communities in URR and to other regions of The Gambia.

He explained that Tostan’s Non-Formal Education Programme is part of the Gambia government and UNICEF Country Programme of Cooperation 2006-2011. He disclosed that from the year 2007 to date, Tostan has worked with 153 communities directly in the region starting with 40 Mandinka, 40 Fula and currently, 40 Serahule and Mandinka communities.

“This is the second information seminar we conducted here in URR since the inception of Tostan in URR in 2007,” he stated, adding that the seminar is intended to enable Tostan and her development partners in the region to share basic information on the Community Empowerment Programme that Tostan is implementing in the region and to solicit their feedbacks, recommendations and a way forward to ensure effective partnership and collaboration at regional and field levels.

He acknowledged that Tostan over the years has enjoyed a true partnership, collaboration and guidance from the Gambia government through the Women’s Bureau under the Office of the Vice President and Ministry of Women Affairs and the Governor’s office in URR whilst the funding of the first phases and that of the new Serahule programmes came from UNICEF, their major funding partner in The Gambia and other countries in Africa.

Officially declaring the seminar open, Momodou S. Jallow, deputy governor of URR, thanked and commended Tostan for organising the seminar, adding that Tostan has brought about positive changes in the lives of the people. He urged participants to take the training seriously and disseminate the knowledge gained.

There were power point presentations by Edrissa Keita, Tostan assistant national coordinator and Lamin Fatty, a staff of Tostan, which highlighted some of the achievements, impacts and objectives of the programme.