Commuters and schoolchildren will have been delighted to read about the inauguration of the new bus company Unique Transport Company (UTSCO). Transport has long been a serious problem for many people travelling to and from work and school with dreadful stories of crushes at garages and minor injuries. According to information gathered, school children can pay as low as D185 as their monthly fares. Other commuters will pay less than what the normal taxi charge. This kind of competition in the market will be music to the ears of commuters who have also long complained about the cost of transport. When commuters and schoolchildren board these new buses they must ensure that they endeavour to keep them clean and tidy to ensure the longevity of the fleet. On this issue the government must address the issue of poor road surfaces. Many drivers have suffered damage to their vehicles because of bad roads and a poor surface adversely affects the vehicle and the amount of time that it can serve its owner or the public.

During his address President Jammeh Commented on the price hike of transport fares in the country. He made it clear that he would not tolerate anybody who takes Gambians for granted. He also used the opportunity to warn the business community to be reasonable in the prices of basic commodities or otherwise he would very soon intervene in that sector in the interests of the Gambian people. What this intervention would be he did not specify but it is good to know that the government is aware of the extreme pressure that many people are under at the moment because of the spiralling costs of basic commodities.

We sincerely hope that the new company is a success and that the commuters and schoolchildren of The Gambia benefit from the service. It will at least be one less worry for people as they struggle to make ends meet. If this business is viable for a private company to run then it must beg the question as to why it would not be the same for The Gambia Public Transport Corporation?

“To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour.”

Robert Louis Stevenson

The sizeable resources freed by debt relief-over US$500 million in debt service payments-provide an important opportunity for The Gambia to leap ahead on the path to development and poverty reduction. To seize this opportunity, it is critical now for the government to build on recent macroeconomic achievements and reinforce policies aimed at sustaining high economic growth and reducing poverty.

In recent years, the Gambian economy has begun to reap the benefits from sound macroeconomic policies. Since 2004, the restoration of fiscal and monetary discipline has stabilised the exchange rate and brought inflation back to low single-digit levels. Macroeconomic stability has helped sustain a steady inflow of foreign direct investment which has boosted economic activity, especially in the tourism, construction and telecommunications sectors. Economic growth picked up, and has averaged almost 6 1/2% a year over the past four years, one of the highest growth rates in the region.

These recent macroeconomic achievements have put The Gambia on the right path, but it still faces formidable challenges, including a high incidence of poverty. Around 60% of the population is estimated to be living below the poverty line. The government’s new poverty reduction strategy, which is being implemented over 2007-11, incorporates stepped up efforts to tackle poverty and improve other social indicators, in line with the Millennium Development Goals.

Debt relief and other assistance from The Gambia’s development partners provide scope for the country to combine strong sustainable growth with higher- spending on infrastructure and social services, thereby accelerating progress on poverty reduction. But in order to capitalise on this opportunity, the government needs to ensure that its annual budgets give high priority to increasing poverty-reducing expenditures. The government also needs to guard against policies that would lead the country back onto a path of unsustainable debt.

Despite the extensive relief that has been granted on past debts, The Gambia’s external debt remains high on account of new borrowing in recent years. In order to mitigate the risk of the country returning to an unsustainable debt situation, the government needs to rely mainly on grants rather than loans to finance its development programs. Encouraging steps are being taken to this end. The government is intensifying its engagement with development partners in an effort to obtain more grants; it has increased the minimum degree of concessionality it will seek in contracting new loans; and it has undertaken to limit the amount of new loans it contracts. Guidelines on new borrowing will be formalised in a national debt strategy scheduled to be prepared by end-July 2008.

To safeguard macroeconomic stability, the government also needs to maintain a fiscal stance that limits domestic borrowing, thereby keeping debt under control and lowering interest rates in the economy. The relatively high cost of servicing domestic debt underscores the importance of fiscal discipline. During 2003-05, for example, interest rates had to rise to bring inflation back under control, following a period of excessive fiscal expansion. Higher interest payments then crowded out poverty-reducing expenditures. Once stability was restored, interest rates could be reduced again, and this allowed the government to boost the share of poverty-reducing expenditures in 2007.

In addition to support from external partners, successful implementation of the new poverty reduction strategy will depend on strengthened capacity in the civil service. Low pay has contributed to a high rate of attrition of professional staff in the civil service. In order to stem the tide, the government increased salaries in the 2008 budget and plans further increases in 2009. While pay reform is critical, due attention also needs to be paid to issues of career development and job security. With the support of the World Bank, the government is preparing a comprehensive civil service reform program aimed at attracting and retaining highly qualified staff.

The IMF will continue to play its part in helping The Gambia to achieve its goals, focusing on our areas of expertise. In particular, we can help with policy advice geared to maintaining macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, which are prerequisites for sustained high growth and poverty reduction. We also stand ready to provide further technical assistance aimed at strengthening capacity in the areas of public financial management and accountability, central bank operations, and macroeconomic statistics.

The advent of comprehensive debt relief opens a new chapter for The Gambia. The main challenge now is to build on recent achievements, by maintaining fiscal prudence and continuing to modernise the country’s economic institutions: Success in meeting these challenges will help deliver better long-run economic performance and sustained improvements in the living standards of the Gambian people.

Because of the link between your body and mind, if one suffers, they both suffer. That is why you feel tried and run down when you get stressed out, and it feels like your mind cannot escape the things that are causing your stress. This can leave you feeling poorly and trapped by your problems. The good news is that because of the link between your mind and body, your stress management techniques can focus on either your mind or body.

One common complaint from people who are stressed is that they feel tired and run down, even if they sleep more than usual. Although you do not feel like doing anything except sitting around and sleeping, this will only make you feel less energetic. Oddly enough, exercise, of nearly any kind, will make you feel better. Although many people will jog or go to the gym for a stress relief session, you do not need to do anything that extreme. Even a walk around the block will improve your mood. If you do not feel like going outside, there are varieties of quick workouts you can do in your home, such as aerobics or yoga.

Doing aerobic exercise is a popular choice when it comes to stress relief, because they are very low impact and do not require much upper body strength. This means that nearly anyone can do aerobics, regardless of their age or fitness level. Yoga and other stretching exercises are also excellent for stress relief. Stretching pulls your muscles in ways they are not used normally, forcing them to go through their full range of motion. Doing this gets your blood flowing without breaking a sweat. It has been shown that stretching can wake you up and improves creativity among people who do it consistently.
Pushups and sit-ups are always an option as well. Regardless of what physical activity you choose to manage your stress level, the important thing is that you give yourself an outlet for extra energy and get your body active so your mind can relax.

Stress also has a strong effect on your mind. It wears you down and keeps you from truly enjoying yourself. While you must put your mind to dealing with the source of your stress at some point, mental distractions can be a great stress relief, and are necessary for everyone, regardless of their stress level. Your distractions need to be something that can help you relax and get your mind off of everything that is getting you down. Many people like to read, listen to music, play chess or other games, or just enjoy the company of family or friends. Hobbies can also be a great stress relief, just be careful not to partake in a hobby that has a tendency to frustrate you, or you may be feeling even more stressed than you were before.

Balancing your techniques to help both mind and body at once is the most effective. Applying stress management techniques to only one area of your being won't do as good a job as giving yourself mental distractions combined with exercise. Finding what works for you to keep stress levels at a manageable level is important, so try a variety of combinations until you find the one that's right for you.

About the Author:

David Richards is a sociologist and web publisher of self improvement advice. You can check out http://www.1st-self-improvement.net for more.

The fact that The Gambia has qualified for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Programme is a cause for national celebration. The HIPC consists of 37 least developed “with the highest levels of poverty and debt overhang”. Initiated in 1996 by both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the HIPC programme “provides debt relief and low-interest loans to reduce external debt repayments to sustainable levels”.  The waiver testifies to the fact that government has been good at its economic management because “assistance is conditional on the national governments of these countries meeting a range of economic management and performance targets”.

The Secretary of State for Finance and Economic Affairs Mr Bala Moussa Gaye had said during his presentation of the 2008 Budget Speech at the National Assembly that The Gambia deserved the waiver because the authorities had worked so hard to maintain macroeconomic stability. He said: “This country has travelled a long, difficult and tiresome journey of far reaching reforms in the last three to four years. The reforms undertaken over these years in the fiscal, financial and economic areas have restored macroeconomic stability and provided investments require for growth, and for the development of the country.”

But this facility will be meaning less if it does not translate into improved living standards for the people of The Gambia. With more funds at its disposal now, government should intensify its poverty-reduction drive. More and more resources must be committed to agriculture, health and education. These are priority areas in the quest to eradicate poverty in the country. Then infrastructure development should also be given sufficient attention. Specifically, the dilapidated roads should be rehabilitated for ease of movement of goods and people across the country.

At the same time, government must not spend money on ostentatious projects that do not add value to the lives of the people. What we need as a matter of urgency and national pride are projects that will activate the productive sector of the economy.

These will in turn generate more and more opportunities for our people, besides the numerous economic and social benefits that go with employment. Prestige projects at this point of our development are not only wasteful but also inimical to our aspiration to economic self-sufficiency.
This is a good opportunity to move The Gambia ever forward.

According to a press release made available to The Point, The Gambia has made sufficient progress and taken the necessary steps to reach its completion point under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative following an agreement by the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The 23rd country to reach the completion point, The Gambia is said to become eligible for further debt relief from the IMF, IDA, and the African Development Fund (ADF) under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI), with total debt service savings under the MDRI expected to reach approximately US $ 373.5 million in nominal terms over the next 43 years.

The World Bank press release indicated that in the efforts to reach the completion point, The Gambia had ensured the meeting of a number of triggers, such as those aimed at maintaining macro-economic stability; ensuring commitment to the national poverty database and monitoring capacity; raising the quality and coverage of education; improving health outcomes and promoting development of the private sector. In addition, the release further outlined, the authorities have taken steps to revitalize the groundnut sector through liberalized reforms.
As a result of reaching the completion point, the release went on, The Gambia is expected to receive in total the equivalent of US$ 514million in nominal debt relief under both the enhanced HIPC initiative and the MDRI, on principal as well as interest payments.

“The World Bank’s IDA committed itself to provide assistance of US$ 35.9 million in nominal terms, of which US$ 9.1million has already been delivered. Under the MDRI, the World Bank’s IDA will cancel a debt stock of approximately US$ 183 million of debt disbursed before end -2003 and still outstanding on 31, 2007, corresponding to a total of approximately US$ 202 million in debt savings,” the release added.

Debt relief to The Gambia under the enhanced HIPC initiative, the release stated, amounts to US$ 66.6million in net present value terms, equivalent to a 27.2 percent reduction of The Gambia’s debt after traditional debt relief. The US $ 66.6 million in reduced debt is attributable to all creditors, while total assistance under the enhanced HIPC initiative is estimated to correspond to approximately US$ 140 million in nominal terms.

Madani Tall, World Bank Country Director for The Gambia, noted: “ In achieving the completion point, The Gambia significantly lowers its debt burden and effectively frees up resources to redeploy towards growth and poverty reduction.” In order to achieve optimum results, he opined, The Gambia had to take this opportunity to ensure that future borrowing is prudently managed in order to prevent a recurrence of debt distress, and to continue implementing reforms outlined in the government’s groundnut sector roadmap.

“The Gambia has made good progress towards securing macroeconomic stability and has established a good track record of policy implementation in 2007,” said Tsidi Tsikata , IMF Mission Chief for The Gambia.”

He postulated that a key challenge emerging from the development would be to maintain a sustainable external and domestic debt position through careful borrowing and prudent fiscal policy. “Debt relief at the completion point under the enhanced HIPC initiative and MDRI is an important milestone for The Gambia towards debt sustainability while providing more resources for poverty reduction and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals,” Mr. Tsikata concluded.

Dating back to the ancient times, it can be said that music already had an impact on human history. With the presence of “nature”-ly sounds – the chirping of the birds, the swishing sound of the leaves, and other sounds of same sort – prove that music has been with man since his earliest days. With the advent of contemporary and alternative music genres, music just says, “I am here to stay”. And with the concoction of new music types, we can see that music is constantly evolving and changing.

With music's antiquity comes its long list of uses for man. For expression's sake, entertainment, and recreation – just to name a few – are the apparent benefits enjoyed by man since time immemorial. Though it varies in accordance to the time period of the music's origin. Music is also used in propaganda movements, as a medium for expressing grievances and calling for immediate action. Though music has uses as diversified as the menagerie of human cultures, there is but one ever familiar use of it - “soothing the savage beast.” This is one of music's greatest benefits. As we know, anxiety-related problems bring out the animal in us. So what better way overcome anxiety than to something soothing?

Music and health-related studies have provided a wide array of benefits. But what's noteworthy is the use of music as anxiety medication. Recent studies pointed out the very strength of music as anxiety relief – its incomparable calming effect on one's mind. Exposure to certain relaxing pieces music prevents the build-up of harmful anxiety that could lead to nausea, heart palpitations, chest pains, difficulty in breathing, and chronic headaches. An anxiety medication, even in this alternative form, is crucial to one's health to avoid other possible lethal complications.

In this view, let's examine the benefits of using music and its advantages as anxiety relief.

While medical prescriptions are necessary for some anxiety medications, music in DVDs and CDs are “prescription-less” commodities. Just compare the convenience. Less travel. Less fees. You can enjoy the relief classical music and instrumental tracks can offer in the comfort of your home. All you need is to attach the necessary hardware, and you're good to go.

Using music is also advantageous to people who are always “chasing after time.” Yuppies, business owners, and other professionals who have difficulty in balancing their time can make full use of this. Work-related hassles, as studies prove, can induce stress and anxiety. These are frequently encountered by the people mentioned above. And with the work's toll, how in the world can they afford the time for a lengthy chat with a doctor? To avoid being misconstrued, this is not an advocacy to boycott doctors' prescriptions, but in reality, many professionals really don't have the luxury of time to visit their doctor for anything short of a major medical emergency. However, the use of these relaxing musical compositions catapults the mind of the person from a stressful state of chronic worry to a serene, calm Nirvana. Music therapy, as such, requires less medical supervision but produces smilar results.

Lastly, not everybody likes the idea of hospital therapy. As indicated in medical studies, there are people who opt not to undergo hospital therapy to avoid embarrassment. Others, though they consult the doctor regularly, request for a certain level of anonymity because they wouldn't like to be ridiculed for having anxiety.

Life is full of stress but not everybody has the luxury of time and money to afford tedious therapy sessions. It's just good that we have music as anxiety medication alternative – a practical way to avert anxiety's lethal repercussions without the hassles.

About the Author:

http://DrugstoreTM.com is a reputable online drug store. From sexual health to a woman's health, sleeping aids to weight loss pills, our online pharmacy offers convenient customer access to various health medicines, including an array of health product and medicare

Despite ongoing relief efforts, humanitarian agencies have yet to meet the needs of many internally displaced persons (IDPS) in Somalia, especially those who remain inaccessible, John Holmes, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said.

Indiscriminate violence had continued in the capital, Mogadishu, malnutrition rates in IDP camps were alarming and family members were being separated as they fled the violence, Holmes told a news conference in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on 3 December, at the end of a day-long mission to Somalia.

Travelling along a 17km stretch of road between Afgoye and Mogadishu where at least 200,000 IDPs have sought refuge, Holmes visited IDP camps and a therapeutic feeding centre for malnourished children in a clinic run by a renowned Somali doctor.

"The displaced people I spoke to told me about the difficulties they underwent; those fleeing were arriving with nothing but a few clothes," Holmes said. "It is the civilians who are getting caught in the crossfire of this ongoing conflict. Violence, pressure and intimidation of all kinds are clearly getting worse."

Fighting between government forces and insurgents intensified in Mogadishu in early 2007 and has caused the deaths of hundreds of people and the displacement of an estimated 450,000 civilians.

Holmes's trip to Somalia marked the end of his eight-day mission to the region when he also visited Ethiopia and Sudan. He is scheduled to brief the UN Security Council on 6 December on his findings.

"I went to Somalia to see the situation of the IDPs and to talk to the government authorities about the concerns of the international community on humanitarian access in the country," Holmes said.

Despite international presence being limited, relief efforts were ongoing; "water trucks were visible, plastic sheeting being distributed for shelter, latrines being built and an immunisation campaign was going on".

However, he expressed concern for the displaced who remain out of reach of relief aid. "Difficulties of access, such as roadblocks and taxation of civilians, remain a big problem," he said.

In Baidoa, Holmes met the new prime minister, Nur Hassan Hussein, who, he said, supported the need to improve the security situation in the country, especially in Mogadishu.

"Humanitarian response is high on the prime minister's agenda," Holmes said. "There is a recognition on his part that we all have to work together to overcome the massive humanitarian challenges that confront Somalia today.

"But we need to see that translated into action," he added.

UN agencies have begun to deploy staff in Ethiopia's Somali region in an effort to step up humanitarian aid delivery to the area, officials said.

Paul Hebert, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Ethiopia, said several UN agencies had set up offices in Kebridehar and Degehabur. These include the UN World Food Programme, UN Children's Fund, OCHA and the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Twelve NGOs have also been accredited to work in the five zones of Degehabur, Gode, Fik, Warder and Korahe, according to OCHA.

“We intend to do an exploratory mission into the Somali region within the next few days,” said Nondas Paschos, spokesman and fundraising director of Médecins sans Frontières-Greece, one of the accredited NGOs.

“Our intention is to find out what the needs are in the region and the conditions under which we can work," he added.

The new UN offices in the Somali region have been set up in addition to the organisation's other bases in the larger Gode and Dire Dawa towns.

The Ethiopian government and the UN reached an agreement in October on measures to ensure that aid would reach vulnerable people in the Somali region.

The UN and Ethiopia's Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Agency (DPPA) decided to establish joint support centres in the most affected areas of the southeastern region to facilitate the logistics of delivering food, medicine, veterinary services and livelihood support.

"The centres will help in the coordination, monitoring and evaluation of aid for the area," said DPPA spokesman Sisay Tadesse.

The UN has expressed concerns over the humanitarian situation and human rights in the area, saying 1.8 million people could be affected.

In a report issued on 5 October, Hebert warned that a major crisis loomed in the Somali region unless livestock trade, commercial and humanitarian food distribution, urgent healthcare, and access by government service providers and humanitarian partners resumed. Hebert led a mission to the region between 30 August and 5 September.

International aid access to the remote and arid area - bordering Somalia and where government troops are cracking down on the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) - has been limited, sometimes due to insecurity.

The conflict has affected trade with neighbouring Somalia, livelihoods and access to basic services.

The Somali region is poor and largely pastoralist, and the food security of the population is highly sensitive to changes in rainfall and market prices for livestock and staple foods.

In a statement to the media on 7 November, ONLF welcomed the opening of the new UN offices, but expressed concern that the government might not allow the agencies to operate in a "free and unfettered manner".

"The TPLF regime [Ethiopian government] is still unjustly paranoid of international humanitarian organisations as demonstrated by the fact that it continues to deny the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] access to the Ogaden," ONLF said.

The ICRC was expelled from the region in August 2007 after the Ethiopian government accused it of spreading baseless accusations.

The DPPA has already started transporting relief food from its Dire Dawa depot to Fik, Gode and Korahe zones, using 99 lorries. The agency said it delivered 2,640 metric tons of cereals, grain and edible oil to the affected zones.

"Additional relief food will be sent to other zones on the coming few days," Sisay said.

For humanitarian officials in Chad a revised UN plan for a peacekeeping mission in the east of the country raises more questions than it answers regarding its mandate, rules of engagement and, most importantly, whether it will help or hinder ongoing relief operations in the area.

The plan was proposed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 10 August.

“Certainly I am pleased that there is a new [international] commitment to have a force as the government’s capacity to provide security is almost non-existent,” the UN humanitarian coordinator for Chad, Kingsley Amaning, told IRIN.

“But now let’s see how the commitment translates into action,” he added.

EU neutrality

The first aim of the mission – which Ban’s report calls a “multidimensional UN presence in eastern Chad and northeastern Central African Republic” – would be to assist in protecting civilians, which in Chad include 236,000 Sudanese refugees and 170,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), according to the report.

“One big question is how well the mission will be able to maintain neutrality,” Amaning said. “It needs to be organised so that the rebels see it as being independent and deployed exclusively for humanitarian purposes.”

Ban calls for the force to be under the European Union (EU) flag for a preliminary 12 months after which a possible “UN successor operation” would take its place.

After Chadian President Idriss Deby rejected a plan for a UN force in 2006, France, the former colonial power which already has a military base in Chad, came up with the current EU-led proposal.

In July, EU nations agreed to start planning for a possible 3,000-strong mission and an EU-led fact finding mission is expected to arrive in Chad in late August.

Some rebel groups have reportedly already rejected the idea of an EU force which they associate with France. French troops based in the Chadian capital, N’djamena, were perceived as having been instrumental in halting an attempt to invade N’djamena by one rebel group in April 2006 (although that group has since formed an alliance with the government).

“If the EU is seen as partisan and rebel groups take them on we could see Europeans working in non-governmental organisations (NGOs) caught in the cross fire,” Amaning said. “[Those drafting the mission] need to prepare the mandate very carefully and clearly so there is no suspicion.”

Avoiding borders

He and other humanitarian officials IRIN spoke to in Chad all expressed another concern with the new mission plan: It states that it would have “no direct involvement… in the border area [between eastern Chad and the Darfur region of Sudan]”.

The humanitarian officials say that would make it difficult for the force to assist tens of thousands of the most vulnerable people who are living along the border.

One official said the UN plan to keep international troops away from the border was a way to appease President Deby, who had rejected an earlier plan saying it would undermine his country’s sovereignty.

Furthermore, relations between Chad and Sudan have soured with President Deby having positioned many of his troops along the border to halt Chadian rebels who he alleges are being supported by Sudan and using Sudan as a rear base. In April, Chadian troops crossed into Sudan and engaged the Sudanese army.

But one possible consequence of having an international force that does not protect the border, according to one humanitarian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, is that “as soon as displaced people realise that they are not in an internationally protected area there could be a sudden and spontaneous population movement which could create a logistical nightmare.”

The point that Amaning and other humanitarian officials made to IRIN was not that the international force should secure the border, only that it should help provide security for civilians living on the border.

The good news, said Amaning, is that the border itself is not the main cause of the humanitarian problems in the area, disputing a widely held view that the violence in eastern Chad is more a spill-over from neighbouring Darfur region in Sudan than a home grown armed conflict. “No. The problem [of mass displacement] is mostly a result of violence from within the borders [of eastern Chad],” he said.

“It’s just that we think it is a mistake to define any geographical area [in eastern Chad] where an international force can or cannot go,” Amaning said.

Who provides security?

The third new point in Ban’s revised plan was that the international force should provide only “wide-area security” while Chadian police and gendarmes would do the work of “maintaining law and order inside the refugee camps and IDP sites”.

Several international officials in Chad told IRIN that people in eastern Chad have lost confidence in the Chadian security forces’ will to protect them.

Ban’s proposal calls for the creation of a special Chadian force “made up of police officers and gendarmes who would be screened, selected, trained and supported logistically and materially by the UN presence”.

But the larger question is whether Chadian security forces can be seen as neutral in the midst of what is a complex armed conflict - part international, part civil war and part inter-communal fighting.

“The international troops may find themselves standing in the middle of a conflict they don’t understand,” said one official. “How can they interrupt it? How can they get people talking to each other?”

Yet despite the misgivings, the humanitarian officials IRIN spoke with agreed that the international presence is needed. “We have asked for [an international protection force] for over a year now,” Amaning said. “Our major concern is that there has been nothing so far and security is deteriorating.”
 
“And we are still waiting for the peacekeepers to materialise.”