Speech

RC Statement - Launch of the 2024 Conflict and Development Analysis Report

19 July 2024

CDA

  • Honorable Minister of Interior,
  • Senior Government Officials
  • Excellencies and Members of Diplomatic Corps
  • Heads of International Organizations and UN Agencies
  • Civil Society Organizations,
  • Members of the media,
  • Ladies and gentlemen,

 

  • It is my pleasure to be with you, as we launch the 2024 Conflict and Development Analysis Report. 
  • In line with the UN Secretary General’s vision of centering the UN’s work on peace and security around prevention, the CDA 2024 is focused on a contextual and issue-based analysis of conflict drivers and peace engines.
  • The CDA identifies ‘economic vulnerability’ as the most critical issue driving violence and tensions, resulting in negative coping mechanisms such as: irregular migration, forced sex work, drug use and crime.
  • The study finds that ‘polarization’ along religious and political lines, is undermining the unity of purpose necessary to deliver The Gambia’s democratic transition, 
  • ‘Land disputes’ remains a significant source of tension, that are complicated further due to the lack of a national land policy, the existence of overlapping customary, religious and statutory systems of land stewardship, lack of mapping and demarcation of land borders and communal ownership boundaries,
  • Slow pace of reforms emerged as another key issue with the potential to undermine the social contract,
  • The Gambia exists in the larger geo-political context of the West Africa and Sahel region that is experiencing a resurgence of insecurity with increasingly violent conflicts, notably in the Sahelian Strip (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso), the Lake Chad Basin. There is a worrying increase in terrorist threats from the Sahel to the Gulf of Guinea. and the recent political development. The Gambia is not immune to regional influences.
  • The report recognizes the possible impact of transnational organized crime, and policy decisions of wider West Africa and Sahel Region,
  • With this evidence base, together with the government and people of The Gambia, we can devise effective responses to emerging challenges for maximizing the impact of peacebuilding programming and sustaining The Gambia’s transition 
  • The CDA is not just a document but an evidence base that will support the government, the United Nations, development partners, and Civil Society organizations to assess, design and deliver, conflict sensitive, nationally owned, sustainable, inclusive and participatory responses to mitigate the impact of the internal and external issues identified in the study.
  • I hope we will use the analysis to enhance coherence and collaboration across the UN system and with partners in support of nationally owned efforts to build and sustain peace.

Goals we are supporting through this initiative

UN entities involved in this initiative

RCO
United Nations Resident Coordinator Office