In the middle of May, the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board sent nearly 10,000 unused elements of uniforms to Gambian colleagues. Now the uniforms have finally arrived to Gambia and have been handed over to the local authorities.
In total, almost 10,000 items of clothing worth over 17 million Dalasis were dispatched, including safety vests, outerwear jackets, trousers, hats, shirts, fleece jackets, vests, uniform jackets and belts.
On September 10, the donation was handed over to the local authorities at Banjul Airport. “Hopefully they will find a new life as a donation so that the local Gambian cooperation partners can put them to good use. The Gambian authorities are excellent partners for other countries and by donating uniforms we can help improve their response capacity,” said Tarmo Viikmaa, the Leading Law Enforcement Officer of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board.
Uniforms will be used by officials of The Gambia Immigration Department, The Gambia Police Force, The Gambia Civil Aviation Authority, Aviation Security and The Gambia Ministry of Health.
The project is financed by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from development and humanitarian aid funds. During the same partnership, Estonian police trained in July the local authorities to identify falsified documents and detect people smugglers. ”During the training, document experts of the border crossing point of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, shared Estonia’s experience and practical examples with Gambian partners, and developed the methods and tactics needed for the work of the authorities there,” said Viikmaa.
