The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has approved $19.93 million grant funding for the Resilience Building - Vulnerable Youth and Women Support Project, designed to improve access to basic social services for underserved communities in The Gambia.

The initiative seeks to address the root causes of poverty and irregular migration by creating sustainable livelihoods and tackling early signs of fragility and preventing structural drivers of conflict and instability in the targeted region. It forms part of the Bank’s scaled-up prevention agenda under the Prevention Envelope of the Transition Support Facility (TSF), which emphasizes early response to fragility risks and systematic drivers of conflict.

The Gambia faces severe economic challenges, with 53.4% of the population living below the poverty line. Poverty is particularly severe in rural areas, affecting 76 percent of residents, compared to 34 percent in urban areas. Youth unemployment stands at 38.6%, with women disproportionately impacted -- 1.3 unemployed women for every unemployed man. These socio-economic disparities, coupled with limited access to services, are major push factors fuelling irregular migration and social instability.

Although the country has achieved robust electricity access nationwide, glaring regional inequalities persist. In areas such as Kuntaur and Janjanbureh, fewer than one in four people have access to electricity, compared to 95 percent in the capital. Additionally, one in four children suffers from malnutrition. By targeting these gaps, the project aims to renew the social contract and foster community resilience.

“This project represents our commitment to tackling the foundational causes of fragility, poverty, exclusion, and lack of opportunity, by investing in people and systems that build community resilience and hope,” said Dr. Joseph Ribeiro, African Development Bank Deputy Director General for West Africa, and Country Manager for The Gambia. “Through the TSF Prevention Envelope, we are acting early to prevent conflict and youth migration by fostering inclusive growth, gender equality, and institutional stability, while building foundations for sustainable livelihoods that will keep families and communities together.”

The project will directly create 1,500 jobs, enhance productivity for 5,000 existing positions, and provide annual skills training to 500 youth in high-demand sectors such as agriculture, engineering, ICT, and renewable energy. In addition, support will be extended to 500 women-led micro and small enterprises and 50 women's cooperatives.

Key investments in health infrastructure will include rehabilitating four primary health facilities vulnerable regions, including Basse, Kuntaur, and Janjanbureh, where maternal mortality and child malnutrition rates exceed national averages. Enhanced nutrition surveillance systems will enable early detection for 22,000 children and facilitate treatment for 1,000 children requiring specialized care.

Food insecurity has surged, rising from 13.4 percent in 2021 to 29 percent in 2023, with peaks of 61 percent in areas such as Kuntaur. The project will address this crisis by promoting climate-smart agriculture and strengthening local values chains to improve food security and reduce vulnerability to climate shocks.

Financial inclusion is a core pillar of the intervention. With 77 percent of Gambian youth currently excluded from formal financial services, the project will establish dedicated credit lines and provide business development support to unlock entrepreneurship, particularly for women who face systemic barriers to accessing capital and markets.

The initiative also includes scaling up efforts to tackle gender-based violence and inequality, and capacity-building for government institutions to enhance data-driven policymaking and long-term monitoring of fragility trends.

 Civil society organisations, including the Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (TANGO), will be central to ensuring the project is inclusive, participatory, and aligned with national priorities.