The pilot phase of the ‘Migration and Sustainable Development in The Gambia’ (MSDG) project (August 2017 to December 2018) was initiated seven months after the inauguration of the new coalition government in The Gambia. It built on the initial ‘Induction and Training Workshop for the Cabinet Ministers’ conducted by GK Partners (GKP) on 11 February 2017 in Gambia, and the subsequent one-to-one briefings with the President, Ministers, senior government officials and development partners. The second phase (MSDG2) runs from January 2019 to December 2022. 

MSDG is a diaspora-led Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) developed and implemented by GK Partners (GKP) in partnership with the Government of The Gambia (GOTG). It is co-financed by GKP and the Swiss Government, with in-kind support from GOTG. The Office of the President sees the project as a contribution to “building operational capacities of Ministries, Departments and Agencies…..a good fit to the public sector reform and modernisation agenda of the coalition government…..the project activities will help establish mechanisms that will provide policy instruments to integrate the Gambian diaspora in the national development process”.

In 2014/15, the Swiss Government entered into a contract with GK Partners for a Technical Cooperation Project (TCP) on Migration and Development in the Republic of Moldova. The project was led by Gibril Faal, the Co-Founder and Director of GK Partners. As the international consultant, Gibril undertook the assessment of diaspora-development needs in the Republic of Moldova, and drafted the ‘Moldova Diaspora Strategy 2025’. The 10-year strategy was presented by the Prime Minister of Moldova to the cabinet, and it was adopted as government policy in February 2016. The Swiss Government, through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) was pleased to sign another contract with GK Partners, facilitating technical cooperation work in The Gambia. SDC also co-funded the multi-million Euro ADEPT project led by Gibril Faal (2014/17).