Your Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Your Excellencies, former Heads of State, Your Excellencies, former Vice Presidents, Honourable Ministers and Senior Government Officials, Distinguished Dignitaries of the UN family from National and Regional Offices, Esteemed International Partners, Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps, Distinguished Service Chiefs, Invited Guests, The Media, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great honour that I welcome our international guests to The Gambia for the inaugural edition of the Sahel Governance Forum. In particular, I extend a special welcome to all the participants present. We value your attendance, as it affirms your commitment to the urgency of the numerous tasks before us in the Sahel.

I assure you that hosting this important Forum here demonstrates The Gambia’s enduring commitment to democratic governance, peace, security, and stability in the region and on the African continent as a whole.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Sahel is a region of immense promise. It is vastly rich in human and natural resources, favourably blessed with a unique cultural heritage, and endowed with a huge strategic potential to spur economic boom.

These endowments make the region a formidable gateway to Africa’s sustainable development and energy transition. Yet, over the years, its true value and potential have been overshadowed by challenges that hampered the attainment of the much needed peace, social cohesion, and pace of development it deserves.

Notwithstanding this observation, we are here today not to lament our challenges and inadequacies, but to confront them with courage, clarity, and collective resolve. Our task is to devise home-grown solutions, act on lessons learnt from the past, and move forward through peaceful and people-centred approaches for sustained development and prosperity.

The theme of this Forum, The Future of Governance: Re-building Social Cohesion and Public Trust, could not be more timely. Across the Sahel, the slow pace of return to democratic rule and the withdrawal of some Sahel states from ECOWAS continue to compound the persistent and emerging challenges that confront us individually and collectively.

This Forum offers us a unique opportunity, therefore, to listen, dialogue, learn from one another, draw lessons from past initiatives, and co-create governance solutions that are nationally owned, inclusive, resilient, and people-oriented.

As Sahelians, Africans, and partners, our search for solutions should centre on national ownership, sustainability, and taking coherent actions to tackle the challenges we face in the region.

Addressing such challenges requires increased solidarity, diverse partnerships, and thoroughly distilled interventions, developed through appropriate peace and development lenses.

In The Gambia, we have taken bold steps to build forward better. In 2023, we launched the Green Recovery-Focused National Development Plan (2023-2027), known as YIRIWAA. This Plan articulates a bold vision for a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable Gambia. Its pillars are not only policy priorities but also merge to provide a roadmap for transformative change.

At the heart of this vision lies a deep commitment to governance and peacebuilding, recognising that without trust, justice, and inclusion, real development outcomes could be eroded or unsustainable.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Our commitment to governance reform is further demonstrated by our response to the findings of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) we established in 2018. In a historic move, out of the two hundred and sixty-five (265) recommendations in the TRRC White Paper, my government accepted two hundred and sixty-three (263), and we have since embarked on their gradual implementation. These actions reflect our resolve to confront the past with honesty and build a future grounded in justice, accountability, and reconciliation.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit that we make this Forum much more than a conversation platform. Let it be a catalyst for change so that we leave this conference centre with a renewed sense of purpose and a shared commitment to building a continent where governance works for all, where trust is restored, and where every citizen feels seen, heard, and valued.

If all leaders and citizens alike commit to patriotism and good neighbourliness, an amicable synergy of efforts and collaboration will unfold to uplift our economies and stabilise both the Sahel and the African continent.

I thank the United Nations Development Programme, the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel, the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Foundation, and International IDEA for partnering and collaborating with us to co-host this Forum.

Be assured that The Gambia stands ready to work with all stakeholders and partners to implement the resolutions of this gathering and to champion a new era of governance, peace, and development in the Sahel.

A well-coordinated collaborative approach to implement shared commitments and resolutions is a viable option to ensure just, inclusive, and sustainable solutions for today’s realities, especially for positively impacting the dynamic and creative youth and women of the region and the continent at large.

We must always remember that peace in the Sahel can influence peace and stability in Africa and beyond, hence the urgency to continue dialoguing and working together to transform our challenges into meaningful outcomes.

Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Hoping that the deliberations during these two days will contribute significantly towards rebuilding and sustaining social cohesion and public trust in the Sahel, I now have the singular honour to declare the Sahel Governance Forum officially open. God bless us all.