The Spanish Red Cross Society, as part of the International Development of West African Red Cross (IDWARC) project, on Monday donated two new vehicles to The Gambia Red Cross Society (GRCS) at a ceremony held at its headquarters in Kanifing.

In receiving the vehicles on behalf of The Gambia Red Cross Society, Dr Malick Njie, SoS for Health and Social Welfare said The Gambia government has attached a great deal of importance on humanitarian work, and therefore it will give The Gambia Red Cross Society all the necessary support it deserves.

He added that his department of state has recognized the invaluable support and auxiliary role of the GRCS to the state, in terms of responding to emergencies and other humanitarian needs countrywide.

"The government of The Gambia sincerely extends its appreciation to the Spanish government, Spanish Agency for international cooperation and the Spanish Red Cross for supporting, promoting and strengthening the capacity of the GRCS for effective and efficient response to the growing humanitarian challenges in the country, such as easy data collection and information sharing for everyone in the country,"  he concluded.

For her part, Mrs Carmen Echezarreta Inurritegui, the Spanish Red Cross Society representative at the ceremony, said the Institutional Development of West African Red Cross Society (IDWARC) is a regional project that is being implemented jointly by the IFRC, Spanish Red Cross and eight sister West Africa national societies with the objective of strengthening the response capacity of those societies.

Also speaking, Fatou Mass Jobe-Njie, President of The Gambia Red Cross Society said one of the greatest challenges and constraints of the GRCS for a long time was the issue of mobility to facilitate the activities of the national society.  This, she said, has limited the output of the GRCS.  Alasan Senghore, head of the zonal office, West and Central Africa based in Dakar, Senegal said GRCS is not an NGO because it was set up by an  act of parliament.  He added that the donation was timely and it will enable GRCS to act effectively in terms of disaster.