Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC September 25, 2014 The U.S. Department of State and Atlas Service Corps (Atlas Corps), a leadership development program that brings young professionals from the social sector to train in the United States, are partnering to bring 100 emerging leaders and social change activists from around the world to the United States through the Emerging Global Leaders Initiative (EGLI)-Atlas Corps Fellowship. Over the next two years, Fellows will participate in competitive internships and guided training at leading organizations that address social issues for 6-18 months on leadership development fellowships funded by the private…
Author: Gainako
‘Mr. President there is more to being President than accumulating Wealth and power’ It is a universally accepted norm that there is more to being a President of a nation than accumulating wealth; becoming famous and or having absolute power to make every decision and control everything. There are very few people in the history of any nation who have the rare opportunity of becoming President. It is a privilege that the people of a nation bestow on those few citizens. Regardless of how one comes to power it is the people who supports you and give you the chance…
By Sarjo Bayang Current exchange of heated words between key political personalities Omar Jallow O J of People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and Ousainou Darbo of United Democratic Party (UDP) falls on the wrong ground at very wrong time. These two are highly respectable and big hope of many Gambians even outside of their political engagements. They have both proven track records of what it takes to stand for a nation in need. In all the 20 years gross misrule by the worst dictator beyond imagination, one thing has gone seriously wrong with Gambian politics. That is the life blood of Gambian politics is so…
Magistrate SK Jobarteh of the Brikama Magistrates’ Court Tuesday struck out the case and discharged former Lands Minister Lamin Waa Juwara, on a charge of abuse of office. When the case was called, the trial magistrate said the case was set for hearing, and the accused was present but there was no state representation. The case had already been adjourned three times, she said, adding that the prosecution was at fault because the court sits at 9 am and there was no prosecutor in the courtroom by that time. She, therefore, struck out the case and discharged the accused…
Delivered September 24th, 2014 Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, fellow delegates, ladies and gentlemen: we come together at a crossroads between war and peace; between disorder and integration; between fear and hope. Around the globe, there are signposts of progress. The shadow of World War that existed at the founding of this institution has been lifted; the prospect of war between major powers reduced. The ranks of member states has more than tripled, and more people live under governments they elected. Hundreds of millions of human beings have been freed from the prison of poverty, with the proportion…
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has returned to ground zero in New York where he was shouted down and embarrassed last year during the UN 68th Annual General Assembly. The embattled Gambian leader who constantly makes negative headlines across the world, was determined not to surrender visiting the country he loves the most – the United States to activists determined to make life uneasy for him whenever he steps outside of the Gambia. Many thought that after facing consecutive embarrassments in the hands of activists in the United States last year and less than two months ago, Jammeh would delegate…
The Committee to Protect Journalists penned a letter to President Barack Obama Monday urging that he take action to protect journalists’ privacy and decrease attacks and harassment of the media. The committee said that they are “deeply troubled” by the growing number of privacy breaches and hacking incidents at news organizations, along with the massive scale of surveillance capabilities carried out by the National Security Agency. CPJ said that such strong government monitoring of journalism has jeopardized the “free flow of news” and has caused them to question the “seriousness” of Obama’s commitment to improving these issues. “We recognize the government’s…
By Foday Samateh Unlike James Stewart in Frank Capra’s classic political drama “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” she didn’t go there with any high-minded illusions to do good. She went there simply to cause trouble. And trouble she caused along with her fellow traveling band of happy rabble rousers and party crashers. Reading her interview with Gainako, it was hard to tell which to feel sorrier for: Obama’s US-Africa Summit or the African leaders he invited. The White House, scrambling to play catch-up to China in Africa, would have the world believe that the summit they billed as a…
The great Japanese writer and feminist, Raicho Hiratsuka, once famously wrote: “In the beginning, woman was truly the sun. An authentic person.” Today more than ever, the global economy needs precisely this kind of radiant sun—to provide light and nourishment. To provide healing. To dry out the swamps of poverty and unrest. The reason is obvious. Seven years into the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression, the recovery is still too tepid and too turbulent. And even after the crisis abates, we will face grave challenges to growth—as a slower “new normal” sets in, as populations age, and…
As many as 700 people are believed to have drowned in two tragic accidents last week during what may have been the deadliest weekend in the Mediterranean in history. On Sept. 10, traffickers sank a ship with 500 Syrians, Egyptians and Sudanese who were trying to reach Europe. More than 200 African emigrants are thought to have drowned only days later when their boat sank off the Libyan coast. Tens of thousands of migrants attempt the perilous journey across the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe each year. Paying smugglers small fortunes to be transported in what are often…