Strengthening of the Women's Bureau, The Gambia, May 1987

The lot of women in The Gambia, as elsewhere in the developing world is a hard one. Economic development should therefore be geared towards genuinely benefiting them. Programmes to help women should have a very wide impact. Any development plans, programmes and projects that could have an impact on women should be examined to remove any elements that might harm their interests. Rather, elements that could help should be built in. In small-scale industry, it would be vital to organize women into cooperatives and be helped to improve their productivity, quality and marketing. This UNDP project was instituted over 32 years ago in The Gambia when I was a doctoral student. This project established a basic structure for the Gambiäs Women¿s Bureau. The substantive long-term work plan developed in this report are in line with the objectives and priorities of the Women¿s Bureau. I hope that they were followed closely. The project should have been able to establish a system utilizing the existing resources and structure in the most efficient and effective ways. By 1990, the Bureau appeared to have been structurally well organised to effectively implement projects.