The Gambia Press Union (GPU) will officially launch its grand project on Friday, 28th June 2019, at Senegambia Hotel in Kololi starting at 10 am.
The Civil Society Fund of Denmark (CISU) has approved a project of two years, six months to the tune of 2,681,152 Danish Kroner, equivalent to about 19.5 million Gambian dalasis, for the GPU and its Danish counterpart, Gambia Media Support (GAMES), a Denmark-based non-profit organisation set up to support the Gambian media.
The project, which is the biggest ever project of the Union, seeks to further strengthen GPU as an advocate for members, the media and democracy in The Gambia.
Through this project, the GPU and GAMES would initiate policies and programmes geared towards strengthening the Gambian media to play its rightful roles in the country’s fragile democracy development and the transitional justice process.
The project is deliberately designed to address the welfare of Gambians by addressing issues such as the rampant lack of issuance of employment letter to journalists, low and irregular payment for staff as well as lack of standard wage rate for freelancers.
The project also has a huge component to address the issue of safety and security of Gambian journalists, particularly as the country slowly drifts to the next cycle of national election which is usually a time for rising tension against journalists.
Through the project, the GPU secretariat and executive board together with the six identified affiliate media organizations would be strengthen on the key areas such as formulation of policies, organizational administration, financial management, and project implementation and management.
On the democratic component, the GPU will involve counterparts and partner organizations in advocacy for freedom of expression, freedom of information and good governance in The Gambia.
In a nutshell, the project targets GPU members and secretariat as well as affiliate journalist organisations, media houses and media owners, the security sector, the government, and the civil society.
