The vice-president and secretary of state for Women's Affairs, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, on Thursday morning, received in her office, a Senegalese envoy, Mr Mame Birane Diouf.

As the Senegalese minister of Culture and Heritage, Mr Diouf told journalists in an interview that he was in The Gambia to convey a special message to the Gambian leader, President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, on a festival to be organised in Senegal.

This festival, according to the Senegalese envoy, is aimed at promoting unity among African countries and "we also want to raise the African flag to higher heights."
 
Lamenting the status of the continent, Mr Diouf said that looking at the African continent, one could clearly tell that civilisation came from Africa. "Even during the most difficult times in the world (colonial era), Africa was organised," he posited, and he then went on: “We are all one, but it is the languages that divided us”.

The Senegalese envoy told reporters that Vice-President Njie-Saidy underscored the importance of the already existing relations between The Gambia and Senegal during their discussion.

Meanwhile, a group of visiting youth coordinators from the International Baby Food Network (IBFAN) Africa was also received by the vice-president.
 
The visiting delegation, comprising five young people from the East African countries of Uganda, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zambia, were led to the Office of the Vice President by Mr Malang Fofana of the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA), who is the national coordinator, IBFAN Gambia.

Shortly after their audience with the vice-president, Mr Fofana told reporters that their audience with Dr Njie-Saidy offered them the opportunity to discuss infant and young child feeding, as well as issues that affect youths in general.

He disclosed that the youth representatives were in the country to exchange ideas with their Gambian counterparts on the youth programmes, in a bid to involve young people in promotion of infant feeding in The Gambia.

IBFAN Africa, Mr Fofana said, has in the past few years been engaged in capacity building projects, aimed at improving the networks in developing countries, as well as sharing experiences of best practices. He said that they chose The Gambia this time round because of the efficiency and organised nature of its youth networks.

The visiting youths, who are coordinators of the various youth bodies in their respective countries, are in The Gambian “to familiarise themselves with the way youths in The Gambia are doing things”.

The vice-president and secretary of state for Women’s Affairs, Dr Aja Isatou Njie-Saidy, on Wednesday, officially opened the new Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Secretariat at the OAU Boulevard, Banjul, on behalf of President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh.

The ADR system, adopted in The Gambia in 2003 with the promulgation of an ADR Law, is an important mechanism for dealing with matters of dispute outside the usual conventional modern-type justice delivery and judicial system.

The new secretariat is expected to provide critical backstopping to ADR initiatives, as well as provide strategic guidance towards deepening the impact of such initiatives.

Commissioning the secretariat, Vice President Njie-Saidy described the office as another landmark development in The Gambia, as it deepens the process of institutionalizing the ADR system in the country.

She added that the establishment of an ADR Secretariat is not only timely, but also represents a clear and glaring testimony of government’s resolve to maximise justice delivery in The Gambia, by promoting access to justice for every Gambian and non-Gambian residents alike.

She further observed that the ADR is not a new phenomenon, particularly in The Gambia, where conflicts and disputes involving families, communities, and even organisations are often subject to close-door mediation and settlement by third parties.  

“In Africa, alternative means to conflict resolution have been part and parcel of our traditional justice delivery system for generations. So too in Asia, particularly China and Japan that are known to have made tremendous strides and achievements in providing alternative means of solving disputes in varied cultural and traditional contexts. These include commercial disputes, and disputes over property inheritance by families and communities. Consequently, the ADR is firmly rooted in cultures and traditions,” the vice-president elaborated.

According to her, the ADR endears itself distinctively as a system that can be administered to deliver justice and judgement without parties going through costly and lengthy litigation proceedings, often associated with the conventional system of justice delivery.

“The system also endears itself by being inherently flexible in its approach and dealings, an attribute that not only makes it a unique, fast, easy-to-administer, and cost-effective system, but also, an important tool for promoting understanding and tolerance between and among parties in disputes. The system is founded on the principles of mediation, conciliation, reconciliation and arbitration,” she highlighted.

She further observed that the ADR mechanism also provides an important complement to the more formal justice delivery system, which is plagued by numerous cases whose handling take longer than normal and at great cost to litigants. As a result, the vice-president hoped that the system will contribute meaningfully to reducing caseloads and turnaround time for judgement in the conventional courts.

She then revealed that no country can achieve and maintain peace and stability without a sound, fair, and responsive judicial and justice system. “In the absence of such a system, not only would the environment become violent and unsafe, and lives and properties at serious risks, but also it serves as a total disincentive for foreign investment that is so vitally important for sustainable economic growth and development,” she added.

Vice President Njie-Saidy then urged all and sundry to collaborate and give maximal support to facilitate the work of the secretariat. She disclosed that the government would do everything possible to support the office, including meeting its training and manpower development in the areas of arbitration, reconciliation and mediation. Notwithstanding, the vice-president added that government would also build the capacity of the formal judicial system, since both systems are crucial.

She observed that the ADR should not be mistaken as a stand-alone substitute system, but simply an added option made available to help people and institutions to choose between two delivery systems to seek justice.

She thanked DFID and the World Bank for providing strategic support and urged the referral of matters such as commercial, land, family, industrial and employment related cases to the ADR Secretariat, for settlement as required under the ADR Act.

For her part, Mrs Marie Saine-Firdaus, the attorney general and secretary of state for Justice, described the event as a significant milestone in transforming The Gambia, since there can be no development without settling disputes.

She noted that the establishment of the ADR Secretariat has ever been her priority since her assumption of office. She lauded the tremendous support gained from President Jammeh and the secretary of state for Finance and Economic Affairs to meet the goals.

SoS Saine-Firdaus stated that the ADR is mandated to handle all types of cases of civil nature and encouraged the conventional courts to forward cases, such as those involving land disputes, to the secretariat to facilitate the resolution of the matters.

She also urged the staff of the secretariat to enhance quick dispensation of justice by making best use of the ADR, assuring them that the Office of the Attorney General will provide the maximum support in the discharge of such a constitutional requirement.

Abdou Karim Savage, the chief justice, thanked President Jammeh for yet another milestone in the development of the country. He also thanked the Office of the Attorney General for accomplishing such a positive initiative, noting that the ADR will greatly help to ensure win-win situations in cases to ensure a peaceful society, rather than the litigation system, which takes people apart.

Chief Justice Savage then expressed his office’s support and called for the proper sensitisation of the public about the ADR.

Other speakers at the ceremony included Dr Ebrima Lowe, the chief executive secretary of the ADR, who gave an overview of the establishment of the ADR, Alhagie Sawaneh of the CBEMP, Department of State for Finance and Economic Affairs and Mrs Penda Gibril, who gave the vote of thanks.

In attendance were the speaker of the National Assembly, Hon Fatoumatta Jahumpa-Ceesay, secretaries of state, and members of
the Judiciary, among other personalities.

The Isaac Newton Club of the Youth Care Foundation, on Tuesday, held an inter-schools’ seminar on the theme ‘Science Strategic Challenge’ at the Gambia Senior Secondary School, Banjul.  

The seminar drew representatives from ten secondary schools in the Upper Banjul.  The seminar was anchored on promoting general science and mathematics among students in schools.

Dawda Samba, a student from the school of nursing spoke on General Science, the rudiment of the medical profession. He expounded on the great opportunities for students in medicine, nursing, public health, pharmacology, and biomedical laboratory techniques among others. He further challenged the students to appreciate and put in all their best, in the study of science saying “if you have science in your hand, you have the world in your hand”.

Edward Ngegba and Olusola Babatunde, graduates from different universities and also mathematics and physics teachers, based their discussions on basic sciences and opportunities in higher educational pursuits.  They enumerated different courses in the university that are opened to students in the departments of engineering especially petroleum engineering.  The students were encouraged to seize the opportunities prevalent in the country.

“Sir Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727), an English physicist, mathematician and natural philosopher, was considered as one of the most important scientists of all time. He lived over 300 years ago but his works represents one of the greatest contributions to science ever made by an individual”, Kolapo Abdul, the director of the organization said.  The club founded on his name, will be established in other schools to further promote the pursuit of science and its benefits.  

The program will also be promoted through programs like science on television, great olympics mathematics competitions and free summer science courses.

Fatty Foday, the president of the club in The Gambia Secondary School urged all students to see themselves as science students since all students undertake compulsory subjects like mathematics and general sciences.  

The occasion was also marked by the award of certificates to schools represented.

In another strong commitment to promoting eco-tourism in The Gambia, a team of experts in bird studies from the West African Bird Study Association (WABSA) including Lamin Jobarteh, the executive director of the association, Solomon Jallow and Sering D Bojang, recently announced the discovery of two new species of birds in The Gambia, at the Atlantic Hotel bird garden in Banjul.

Confirming this development to the Daily Observer, Lamin Jobarteh the executive director of WABSA and a bird expert said both species were spotted as a result of an unusual appearance.

According to him, they thoroughly looked at the behaviour of the European Robin bird as to whether it was caged and brought to The Gambia but from their own observations, the bird may not have been caged as it behaves very unapproachable. "Although these might not be justifiable enough, because Robins are territorial and they normally visit garden in search of worms,’’ he said.

Describing the Greyish Eagle Owl specie, Jobarteh said the bird is a medium to large sized bird, uniformly greyish brown, with finely barred under parts which become more bold on the chest, dark greyish leg, white spots on shoulder, and wings as well as dark brown eyes.

He described the European Robin as thus uniformly olive, with brown upper parts and tail, warm orange-red face and breast, lower under parts dirty buffish, becoming more paler at the centre of the belly.

According to the WABSA executive director, some of the guests who also shared the view of the bird said that, the European Robin is associated with winter. "It is also a festive bird. “When people see Robin bird in UK, they begin to realise that Christmas is nearer, and during Christmas, most of the greeting cards have pictures of a Robin bird,’’ one of the European guest at the Hotel was quoted as saying.

Jobarteh then applauded the team of bird experts and photographers at the hotel garden for such a landmark discovery, which he said, would go a long way in boosting the eco-tourism in the country.

This latest discovery is said to have increased the number of bird species recorded in he Gambia so far.

Mr Chris Bowman, a bird photographer took the pictures of the two species at the garden with Greyish Eagle Owl (Bubo Cinerascens), and the European Robin (erithacus rubecula).