| Overview : The Gambia is in the third year of implementing its Medium Term Development Plan – The Programme for Accelerated Growth and Employment (PAGE), which requires both domestic and foreign resources to meet its objectives. The implementation of PAGE revolves around its five Pillars of Accelerating & Sustaining Growth; Improving and Modernizing Infrastructure; Improving Human Capital & Social Service; improving Governance & Corruption and Enhancing Social Cohesion & Cross cutting Interventions.
The GOTG recognizes that effective and efficient utilization of aid is critical to achieve the PAGE and Vision 2020 strategic objectives of reducing poverty, attaining Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and improving aid effectiveness to maximize benefit for the people of Gambia. The enhancement of aid effectiveness in this context remains a very high priority of the GOTG as over 65 percent of the total resources for PAGE implementation is expected to come from external assistance.
The Draft Gambia Aid Policy (2013-2017) serves as framework of aid management in the country and is in line with GOTG international commitment/agreements to assert government’s leadership in aid coordination, harmonization and alignment to ensure aid is used effectively. This further help government in the pursuit of its developmental priorities strengthens national institutions and promotes effective division of labour between donors among others.
The GAP has also come to overcome some of the aid management and coordination challenges faced by The Gambia to achieve its development goals. Although measurable progress has been made, much remains to be done to improve:
(a) Effectiveness of aid utilized in ministries, agencies, non-state actors and private sector implementing the development programs and projects;
(b) Harmonization of development partners interventions to minimize the burden of implementation on implementing ministries and agencies;
(c) Weak institutional framework for Aid Coordination as there are lots of institutions involved in aid coordination and management whose activities are not coordinated. For instance, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for multilateral aid, Foreign Affairs is responsible for bilateral aid, Policy Analysis Unit is responsible for coordinating UN System activities and NGO Affairs Agency is coordinating NGOs activities.
(d) Poor data gathering and sharing mechanism coupled with the poor magnitude and sectorial distribution of aid information. | 
