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Based in Geneva, the Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body within the UN system, made up of 47 states elected by the General Assembly, which are responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the world. The Gambia has played a significant role in advancing critical human rights issues at the UN Human Rights Council.   Over the past three years, The Gambia has played an active role in the Council’s work, by serving as Vice-President for two consecutive terms ( 2 years) and as Coordinator of the Africa Group for the year 2024. From advocating for peace, climate justice, digital inclusivity, anti-racial discrimination, and the rights of women, children, persons with disability and youths, The Gambia has remained steadfast in its dedication to advancing justice and protecting vulnerable groups and populations.   The Gambia’s role as vice president include:   Overseeing Council sessions   Coordinating the work of the Africa Group within the HRC, ensuring that the continent’s concerns are reflected in key human rights decisions .

During the meeting, the two ministers discussed key bilateral matters and explored potential areas for further collaboration between their countries. Minister Tangara emphasized the many similarities between The Gambia and Papua New Guinea, particularly in terms of the rich diversity of tribes and languages within their populations. In response, Minister Tkatchenko expressed gratitude for the meeting and extended his best wishes to Minister Tangara in his bid to become the next Secretary-General of the Commonwealth.  

With a mission to develop cooperative initiatives and actions and contribute to the development of an Atlantic community of interests, the AASP aims to promote integration, stability and prosperity in the region. The session was chaired by His Excellency, Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates of The Kingdom of Morocco. The main outcomes of this meeting were the Joint Declaration by African Atlantic States Process and Atlantic Center and the New York Declaration II.

The Gambian delegation was led by Permanent Secretary I of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Lang Yabou who was accompanied by Ambassador Lamin Dibba,Permanent Representative of the Republic of The Gambia in New York. Also in attendance were the Foreign Minister’s campaign team from MOFA, the Gambia High Commission in The United Kingdom and Permanent Mission of The Gambia to the African Union in Addis Ababa. The objective of the CFAMM is to oblige Foreign Ministers to deliberate on shared challenges. It was also an opportunity to gather Commonwealth Members to review the activities of the Secretariat over the last year and highlight key objectives of the upcoming CHOGM meeting. The meeting was chaired by His Excellency, Olivier Nduhungirehe, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Rwanda, as per Commonwealth Chair-in-Office.

Heads of state are gathered to engage in discussions under the theme “Leaving no one behind: Acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations.” President Barrow was accompanied by various cabinet ministers including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Information, the Secretary General and other high level officials.

His Excellency Mr. Fafa Sanyang, Ambassador of the Republic of The Gambia to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and team attended the Women security and peacekeeping training graduation ceremony which was held at Khawla Bint Al-Azwar Military Academy for Women in Abu Dhabi on 28th August 2024.   The Gambia participated in this training alongside countries such as Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Tanzania, Liberia, Pakistan, Kosovo and Kyrgyz Republic.   This security and peacekeeping training programme is aimed to build and develop women’s capabilities in peace missions. It creates collaborative and supportive networks that increase women’s representation in peacekeeping forces, and improve their operational effectiveness. The Gambian military officers were commended for their remarkable performance.

On Tuesday 13th August 2024, Ambassador Lang Yabou, Permanent Secretary I, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad received Mr. Hirose Shinichi, Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Japan to The Gambia based in Dakar, Senegal and his delegation at his office in Banjul. The purpose of the visit was to execute the signing of Exchange of Notes relating to the Annual Japanese Food Assistance to The Gambia for 2024 amounting to D150,000,000.00. Permanent Secretary Yabou, in his statement after the signing, pointed out that, The Government of The Gambia is au fait with the fact that the world is facing a global food security crisis which is driven by climate change and factors such as conflicts, etc, and as climate change and conflicts continue to exacerbate the situation, the number of people expected to be affected by food insecurity is expected to rise. Therefore, “it is essential that we work collectively to mitigate the adverse impacts of food insecurity, which has the potential to derail societies” posited Ambassador Yabou. Permanent Secretary Yabou informed Counsellor Shinichi that, the food assistance will be beneficial to The Gambia by assisting Government to establish through the Ministry of Agriculture, a flexible mechanism that would allow communities to have access to farm inputs and reap full benefits from this support. Ambassador Lang Yabou went further to recognized the strong bilateral relation between the two countries highlighting other forms of support that The Gambia continue to receive from Japan such as the provision of safe drinking water to rural communities through the “Rural Water Supply Project”, capacity building to enhance the productivity of The Gambia’s public service, scholarships and projects for the strengthening and modernization of The Gambia’s agriculture and fisheries sectors. On international platforms, ‘’the two countries shared commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, democracy, rule of law, development, human security and mutual respect for each other’’ noted Ambassador Yabou. In addition, while thanking the Government and People of Japan for the support and solidarity, Ambassador Yabou conveyed the commitment of the Government of The Gambia to further strengthen and grow the excellent ties between the two countries for the mutual benefits of their people and to contribute positively to global peace and greater prosperity. Ambassador Yabou concluded by stating that, ‘’this is a timely visit ahead of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Meeting slated to take place in Tokyo, Japan later this month and The Gambia will join other stakeholders to participate’’. For his part, Counselor Mr. Hirose Shinichi expressed his gratitude to the Permanent Secretary for receiving him and asserted that, “Japan is very sensitive to the food shortage in African countries due to the impact of climate change, natural disasters and external shocks on the local food production.” Counsellor Hirose assured his host of the continuous commitment of Japan to support The Gambia’s development endeavours as well as working together to strengthen the relationship between the two friendly countries and concluded by thanking The Gambia for its partnership with Japan. The two sides agreed on the importance of regular engagements and the signing ceremony was witnessed by Mr. Sheick Omar Bittaye, Director and staff of the Directorate of Asian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Banjul and the delegation that accompanied Counsellor Hirose from the Embassy of Japan in Dakar, Senegal.

The Director General of Bureau IV (African Affairs) of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Mr. Wang Heming recently concluded a working visit to The Gambia accompanied by his delegation. As part of the visit, Mr Heming met with the Permanent Secretary I of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad, Ambassador Lang Yabou. In receiving the delegation at his Office, Ambassador Yabou welcomed them to The Gambia and the Ministry on behalf of His Excellency, Dr. Mamadou Tangara, Minister of Foreign Affairs. PS Yabou in his opening statement pointed out that, “The Gambia and the People’s Republic of China continue to build people to people ties with The Gambia hosting Chinese nationals and businesses that contribute to employment, skills-transfer and domestic revenue mobilization.” He continued by adding that the visit by Director Wang would further solidifies the relationship between China and The Gambia which is determined by mutual trust through political dialogue and win-win outcomes in economic cooperation, communication and social connections. The Social connections through civil communications such as the People to People exchanges could be arguably regarded as one of the most attractive exchanges in international relations, the value of which, has been recognized in an increasing world politics. Cognizant of this fact, people-to-people exchanges returned to a normal state and became an important driving force in stabilizing and developing healthy bilateral relations between The Gambia and China with a huge number of Gambians and Chinese exchanging visits and doing business together. Such exchanges have enhanced mutual understanding and trust between our two peoples from different civilizations and cultivated long-term friendships through sincere and candid dialogues resulting in positive experiences and insights in a broad sense. The continuous dispatch of the medical team to The Gambia for 7 consecutive batches under the existing protocol, reaffirmed the degree of social connection that has been achieved through People-to-People Exchanges. Similarly, the strong bond of our relationship manifest itself in the High-Level Visits, with His Excellency President Adama Barrow and many Gambian Ministers and Senior Official’s visits to China and the visits to The Gambia by His Excellency Foreign Minister, Wang Yi as well as, the Special Representative of His Excellency President XI, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Mr. Zheng Jianbang, to attend the 15th OIC Islamic Summit in Banjul from 4th -5th May 2024. ‘‘Director General WANG, on behalf of the Government of His Excellency, President Adama Barrow, I want to once again reassure the Government and People of China of The Gambia’s commitment to One China Policy.  This is a policy that we are committed to and The Gambia will continue to provide its support to China’’ posited Ambassador Yabou. In addition, PS Yabou acknowledged China’s leadership and support to members of the Global South and thanked the Government and People of China for the support and partnership with The Gambia especially in the areas of health, education, infrastructure, agriculture, etc. Permanent Secretary Yabou also conveys appreciation to the staff of the Chinese Embassy in Banjul and The Gambia Embassy in Beijing for their roles in strengthening China-Gambia relations and pointed out that, The Gambia will continue to work closely with the government of the People’s Republic of China to further strengthen the bilateral ties and multilateral engagements between the two countries. Finally, Ambassador Yabou wished Director Wang a successful stay in The Gambia and wished the Government and People of China the best as they prepare to host the FOCAC Summit which The Gambia will participate in.

The maiden edition of West African Ambassadors’ Cultural Day was held on July 27th, at the gardens of the Embassy of the Republic of The Gambia in Brussels, Belgium. High-level dignitaries, including several African Ambassadors in Belgium and other guests, attended the event. The culturally focused event featured traditional musical performances by musical groups from Burkina Faso and Guinea Bissau, followed by a rendition of cultural music from all West African countries and displays of West African dishes. In welcoming the guests to the event, Ambassador Pa Musa Jobarteh dwelt on the significance of the event in bringing together the members of the West African Community under one roof to display shared history and culture as well as to promote unity. He also mentioned that “through this cultural day, we hope to display our rich heritage and traditions, unity, strength, and the shared aspirations of our region and peoples. Each culture represented here shall showcase its uniqueness tied to our collective identity. It is my strong belief that it is through events like this that we can strengthen our bonds and deepen our mutual understanding”. H.E. Leopold Bonkoungou, Ambassador of the Republic of Burkina Faso, who is the current rotating Chair of the West African Ambassadors in Belgium applauded the Gambia Embassy for successfully hosting the maiden event. The Ambassador noted that “it was important to find channels to strengthen the spirit of solidarity among us, to share convivial moments, and to make people discover the cultural richness, through its different facets, the cultural richness of our countries that history and geography unite”.

H.E. Pa Musa Jobarteh, the Ambassador of the Republic of The Gambia to the Kingdom of Belgium and Permanent Representative to the European Union with concurrent accreditation to the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia on Tuesday, 23rd July 2024 presented his Letters of Credence to the President of the Slovak Republic, His Excellency Peter Pellegrini, as the Ambassador of the Republic of The Gambia to the Slovak Republic at a ceremony held in the Presidential Palace in Bratislava. Ambassador Jobarteh conveyed fraternal greetings from His Excellency President Adama Barrow to the President, the Government and the people of the Slovak Republic. He underscored his willingness to work with the Government of the Slovak Republic to further strengthen the existing bilateral ties between the two countries. His Excellency, President Peter Pellegrini welcomed Ambassador Jobarteh to the Slovak Republic and congratulated him on his appointment as the Ambassador of the Republic of The Gambia. He expressed interest in the Government of the Slovak Republic supporting The Gambia through development cooperation in agriculture, the details of which are to be discussed with the Gambian authorities.