Gambia

August 2018: Gisela and Nevena met with the DPR of the Mission of the Gambia. Endorsement seems like a possibility. The DPR showed interest and engagement during our conversation. He highlighted the Chief of Defence staff and the National Security Advisor as key stakeholders. He was glad to learn that 21 African Union members had endorsed the Declaration to date, especially the fact that Botswana, a peaceful country like the Gambia, had joined. He also noted the Gambia’s proximity to countries that are affected, like Mali. He highlighted how changes to military doctrines, manuals, and training activities to include the Guidelines must be carried out during peacetime in order to prevent possible attacks on and military use of schools (making our advocacy point). He mentioned that there are regional meetings of Chiefs of Defence and suggested this would be a good forum for discussion of joint prevention strategies on protection of educational facilities from attack and military use. He shared that the Gambia had achieved improvements in access to education and that the Ministry of Education would be open to work on strengthening school safety and security. In this regard, he proposed a GCPEA advocacy visit to meet with representatives from the Ministry of Defence and Education to discuss not only the Declaration but also the possibility of developing a safe schools-related training programme in the Gambia that could be rolled out to conflict-affected countries. He noted the Gambia’s role in and record of principled peacekeeping and that they could play a role here in improving standards on protection of education. He recommended that GCPEA send a letter to the Gambia’s President, via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, copied to the Ministry of Education and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence. Follow-up: We followed up in writing sharing the letter addressed to the President and received a warm response.

November 2018: GCPEA met with the Ambassador of The Gambia who conveyed the message that education is at the core of everything, referring to his own position as a result of access to education. He responded very positively to the briefing, underscoring the need to protect educational facilities as “prevention is better than cure”, and promising to make a recommendation to his government to endorse. His country has been part of peacekeeping missions in 51 countries worldwide, and can play a role in promoting protection of education by example. GCPEA followed up in writing, sharing a letter for the Foreign Minister.

February 2019: GCPEA met again with the Deputy Permanent Representative (last advocacy meeting took place in August 2018). Endorsement seems like a possibility. He asked for the template letter of endorsement which he promised to send to the attention of both the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President to sign. He responded very positively to the briefing, underlying that schools should be safe places. He was also interested when GCPEA made the link to the Gambia’s role as a peacekeeping contributor. During the conversation, he highlighted how important is to involve all the relevant Ministries. i.e. the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Basic, and Higher Education in the endorsement process in order to raise their awareness about the issue. GCPEA shared a copy of the conference invitation and presented the conference as an opportunity for the Gambia to endorse and to gain international recognition for its commitment to promote protection of education in armed conflict. Follow-up: GCPEA followed up in writing, sharing a letter for the Foreign Minister and the endorsement template letter.

May 2019: Participated in the Third International Conference in Palma.

October 2021: cosponsored UNSRC2601.

April 2024: On 12 April, GCPEA met with the Gambia Ambassador at the AU and chair of the AU African Platform on CAAC, H.E. Mrs. Jainaba Jagne, and Mr. Nfamara Kuyateh, Counsellor on CAAC, AU PM mission. We provided a short overview of GCPEA’s work and priorities, thanked them for their role with Mauritius’ endorsement, and presented a few opportunities to work together at the African Union level in 2024-2025. We mentioned opportunities for peer-to-peer advocacy given current context – with AU year of education and the SSD tenth year anniversary coming up in 2025. We also presented the state-led implementation network and its activities. The Ambassador is very keen to continue to promote the SSD and conduct peer to peer advocacy, in her capacity as Ambassador as well as through the AP CAAC Platform. She explained that the platform had done an analysis of countries that hadn’t endorsed the SSD and was planning on continuing bilateral outreach with them on the issue (in the past they successfully engaged Congo, Tunisia and Mauritius). Priority countries she mentioned included Uganda (planning a visit of the platform there in Q3 2024 to engage in capital), Ethiopia, Comoros, Burundi, Libya, Zimbabwe (expressed interest to join the platform which provides good leverage), Eritrea, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, and Gabon. Also discussed possibility of adding SSD at this year’s retreat of the AP CAAC platform in December. We will follow-up with GCPEA’s list of priority countries and seek to strengthen collaboration with the Ambassador and this platform, leveraging the AU year of education to increase endorsement in Africa.