Agency for Village Support (AVISU)
The Agency for Village Support was established in 2006 after the closure of Village Aid, The Gambia. AVISU is the only local national Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) based and operating in the Central River Region (CRR). The agency is located in Kaur Wharftown, about 150km from Banjul; the capital. AVISU has a Board of directors and general membership of registered groups. The Agency works in partnership with communities through Village Development Committees, NGO’s such as Concern Universal and other interested parties to eradicate poverty. We look after our funds: the agency has a sound financial management system and we provide quarterly financial reports to our partners. Our accounting books are audited every quarter by a reputable auditing firm. We are organised: • AVISU has a 7 member board elected by the community for a term of 2 years based on their performance • We produce quarterly narrative reports to our donors. AVISU staff conduct regular supervision and monitoring of activities in our areas of intervention in the CRR communities • We hold weekly and monthly meetings with staff to ascertain how well we are meeting our targets, to address constraints and establish a way forward for the organisation. We also hold Annual General Meetings • AVISU is accountable to partners, donors and the communities we serve We engage with Government: • By partnering with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MOBSE) to encourage functional literacy • By working with the Ministry for Local Government and Lands and the Department of Community Development on Community Driven Project (CDDP); This is a project to strengthen village development communities in the Central River Region - North We work with a wide range of organisations: Village Aid UK, European Union, Concern Universal, REAP Canada, NATC, MMAP, TANGO and Catholic Relief Services, The Gambia. |
• Agriculture – providing seeds and planting vegetable gardens • Environment and natural resource management • Internal lending and enterprise development The Literacy Reflect Programme and the Rice Initiative Project show the breadth and specialisation of our organisation. In the Literacy Reflect Programme we use Reflect Literacy Methodology to support 46 literacy circles in the region reaching 1,538 learners, 90% of which are women. Literacy empowers the communities to discover their potential and identify their needs for food security and improved nutrition. The Rice Initiative Project funded by Catholic Relief Services, The Gambia has been running for two years and continues to be a success. The project has targeted 1,600 women rice farmers in five districts providing early maturity rice seeds and fertiliser. These farmers were able to produced 59.5 metric tonnes of rice resulting in improved food availability in the targeted communities. |
An MMAP and AVISU collaborative project
MMAP and AVISU are working together on the Community Reforestation and Environmental Management Project. MMAP are implementing in the North Bank Region and AVISU are implementing in the Central River Region. The project focuses on mitigating climate change by restoring and enhancing environmental management techniques at the community level. This is to foster environmentally sustainable communities and reduce poverty in the regions by creating income generating opportunities for women and youths.
Some of the activities we are implementing are; training for 200 youths and women on sustainable environmental management, community sensitisations on environmental degradation, the establishment of village nurseries, woodlots and orchards as well as the planting of 40,000 timber trees and 7,000 assorted fruit trees.
The project looks forward to having community members who are sensitised and aware of the effects of environmental degradation and are trained in environmentally focused techniques. The timber and fruit trees that are planted will reduce the environmental degradation prominent in the regions whilst equally providing income generating projects for the communities to contribute to poverty reduction.
Agency for Village Support (AVISU)
Kaur Wharftown
Kaur
Central River Region
P.O. BOX 3170, Serekunda
The Gambia Tel: (+220) 5748 090
Email: [email protected]