The Importance of Human Rights Education in The Gambia

Marie Antoinette Corr discusses the importance of this Human Rights Education competition for schools at the launch of the competition on the 8th December 2021.

Background

The Gambia is the smallest country on continental Africa with a population of roughly 2.4 Million. The Gambia Teachers Union (GTU) is the only teacher union in The Gambia.

The GTU and The Steve Sinnott Foundation (SSF) linked up in 2017 and have since established a very strong bond and Partnership. A series of activities have been funded by SSF including supporting the Sierra Leone Teachers Union (SLTU) to train teachers on the making of reusable sanitary pads and equality and gender-based violence issues.

National Education Union (NEU) and GTU also have a long standing partnership. Since Samidha Garg and Andy Woolley visited the Gambia and conducted leadership training for teachers. I have also been privileged to attend a series of NEU Conferences before the COVID 19 Pandemic struck.

Why GTU co-launched the competition

We believe young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. When empowered they can be key agents for development and peace. The ultimate goal of human rights education is people working together to bring about human rights in society, human rights justice and dignity for all. This is an opportunity we did not want to miss. That is why we agreed to co-launch the competition.

We want to ensure that all young people have every opportunity to participate fully in the positive development of their societies.

The state of human rights education in The Gambia

This competition comes at a very opportune time for us. The National Human Rights Commission with support from the British High Commission is currently reviewing the Basic Cycle and Senior Secondary School Curricula to identify entry points for the integration of human rights education into the basic and secondary school education levels, in order to nurture human rights values in children. The Gambia Teachers Union has been invited to be on this committee, and we see this as a very welcome move.

Putting The Gambia back on the human rights map

Gambia was once a human rights haven, but after 22 years of dictatorship authoritarian rule by Yahya Jammeh, the nation was beset by arbitrary arrests, torture and other human rights violations. The nation is aggrieved and wants positive change. However a lot of violence was experienced during the recently concluded presidential election.

Human rights in the region needs support. Nigeria has witnessed an increase in human rights violations such as unlawful killings, forced disappearances and torture by both government and non-state actors. The Chibok girls kidnapping is an example.

African governments across the continent need to accelerate efforts and provide adequate funding to ensure that all children have human rights education. Human rights education is one of the answers to our current problems. We want to make The Gambia a human rights haven once again.

Get involved

If you want to get involved in our Human Rights Competition for schools, you can sign up on our website.

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Marie Antoinette Corr GS, GTU • February 9, 2022

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