Introduction - UNDP The Gambia

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rural areas and the traditional structures
discussed in this chapter have been the
building blocks of development.
Traditional leaders have also been directing
development plans by working closely with
their kabilo and other relevant actors.
However, this critical mass of local leaders
need capacity building to effectively respond
to the new role the government may envisage
for them in the future.
In The Gambia’s development records,
particularly in the areas of agriculture and the
environment, rural women have always
played a dominant role in promoting
progress. They have been the targets for
development practitioners who work closely
with development agents on a voluntary
basis. They have also been the pool of labour
which the traditional structures rely on for
most community development initiatives. The
decentralisation process should provide
opportunities to them. They should be trained
to be more efficient and effective, since they
have a proven record of performing
effectively in achieving project objectives.
undergone substantive economic influences
and changes, in response to new development
and a policy paradigm in the context of the
political economy they operate in. It is
observed that there is much of the old in the
new, although the social bases of African life
have been altered.
Traditional structures usually cover broader
frameworks than official, public and formal
structures. Over time, they have accumulated
wide-ranging amounts and types of resources,
and, consequently, power, independent of
government institutions. Thus state agencies
may, in many cases, exercise a degree of
autonomy and monopoly over power and
their areas of jurisdiction. They also have a
high degree of authority and legitimacy and
their existence resonates with the cultural
milieu in which they exist and operate. To a
great extent, power is concentrated in such
structures, depending on the context. The
current decentralisation process of The
Gambia allows such initiatives for the
country to really achieve its objectives of
attaining sustainable development where
citizen participation is central.
Emphasis on building women’s capacity to be
effective in tackling development problems
should be a high priority, particularly at the
rural level. Human resources have always
been problematic, especially in the rural
areas. Women have always been the critical
mass on which development initiatives have
rested for sustainable development.
Women are part of the traditional structure
and they form a formidable group in the local
communities. They assume power and have
been taking leadership positions on behalf of
women. They are the point of reference for
development agents and have been the
corollary to male leadership structures in the
rural areas. However, when women’s only
strategies are utilised, they should only act as
interim measures to close the gender gaps and
not to see their role as being separate from the
mainstream development plan.
The role of these structures cannot be
overemphasised, although they have
Decentralisation helps to ensure that
globalisation, as well as the national and local
development processes, truly benefits poor
women and men and does not further
marginalise them. But this requires that
decision-making power be shifted closer to
the people by devolving authority and
resources from national and regional
government to local government and helping
particularly poor communities to organise
themselves to actively participate in
advancing their interests. It is only through
strong and capable local authorities and civil
society organisations and empowered citizens
that globalisation and localisation processes
can be managed in a way that would be in the
interest of the local population and of benefit
to all.
It is important to mainstream gender in all the
existing structures/institutions for the
effective planning, formulation,
implementation and evaluation of the MDGs.
Gender budgets should be part of the overall
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Building Capacity for the Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in The Gambia National Human Development Report 2005
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