Category Archives: The Gambia

Blowing the house down: life on the frontline of extreme weather in the Gambia

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A storm took the roof off Binta Bah’s house before torrential rain destroyed her family’s belongings, as poverty combines with the climate crisis to wreak havoc on Africa’s smallest mainland country

The windstorm arrived in Jalambang late in the evening, when Binta Bah and her family were enjoying the evening cool outside. “But when we first heard the wind, the kids started to run and go in the house,” she says.

First they went in one room but the roof – a sheet of corrugated iron fixed only by a timbere pole – flew off. They ran into another but the roof soon went there too.

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‘Living from flood to flood’: the crisis of Gambia’s sinking city

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As well as floods, sewage and crocodiles, those living in Banjul’s slums face the effects of a climate crisis they did little to cause

Yedel Bah would move home if she could, but she can’t. With no income of her own, four children to feed and a husband who just about manages, her family lives from day to day, and from flood to flood, on the banks of a litter-strewn, stagnant canal.

Every rainy season, the neighbourhood of Tobacco Road in the Gambian capital, Banjul, braces for downpours of such intensity that the canal overflows, spilling its murky, pungent depths into the slum-like homes that run alongside it.

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Hit $100bn target or poor countries face climate disaster, the Gambia tells Cop26

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West African nation’s environment minister says richer countries must finally honour funding commitment made at Cop15 in 2009

Rich countries must hit their $100bn climate finance target in the last week of Cop26 or it will be catastrophic for the poorest nations suffering the most from the climate crisis, the Gambian environment minister has warned.

In an interview with the Guardian as he prepared to leave for Glasgow, Lamin B Dibba urged developed countries to finally honour the annual funding commitment that was made 12 years ago at the Copenhagen climate summit (Cop15) – but which has never been achieved.

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‘It is what girls need’: the FGM activist hoping to be the Gambia’s president

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Despite inexperience and few allies, Jaha Dukureh is offering people change and a break with the past in December’s election

Jaha Dukureh was a young mother of three with little campaigning experience when she started a movement in the Gambia to end female genital mutilation, backed by the Guardian.

In the seven years that followed she advised Barack Obama in the US, where she was then living, helped have FGM banned in her home country, was nominated for a Nobel peace prize and became a UN ambassador.

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Greenpeace stops fish oil tanker in Channel in protest over African food insecurity

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Fishmeal exports to EU from west Africa have grown sharply, depleting stocks and posing threat to livelihoods

Greenpeace activists have intercepted a 96-metre tanker in the Channel carrying fish oil from west Africa to Europe, to highlight the threat they say industry poses to food security and to livelihoods in the region.

Trade figures analysed by Greenpeace Africa show that fishmeal and fish oil exports from Mauritania alone have grown by an “alarming” 16% during 2020. Activists and locals say the industry pushes up prices and depletes stocks of fish eaten by local people across poor communities in Mauritania, Senegal and the Gambia.

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‘It’s not easy’: seven working parents around the world – photo essay

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Photographers Linda Bournane Engelberth and Valentina Sinis document the lives of working parents from Botswana to the UK for Unicef

If investing in family-friendly policies is good for business, then many companies are missing a trick. Giving parents and families adequate time, resources and services to care for children, while staying in their jobs and improving their skills and productivity, pays off according to employers. But for many, in all parts of the world, paid parental leave and childcare are not a reality. And that can compromise the first critical years of life – a time when the combination of the right nourishment, environment and love can strengthen a developing brain and give a baby the best start.

Evidence suggests family-friendly policies pay off in healthier, better-educated children and greater gender equality, and are linked to better productivity and the ability to attract and retain workers. Momentum for change is growing with an increasing number of businesses beginning to see the value.

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The Gambia becomes second African state to end trachoma

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Health workers spent years targeting agonising and blinding eye disease, which was rife in rural areas

The Gambia has become the second country in Africa to eliminate trachoma, one of the leading causes of blindness.

The achievement, announced by the World Health Organization on Tuesday, came after decades of work on the disease, which has damaged the sight of about 1.9 million people worldwide. Ghana was the first country in Africa to eliminate the disease in 2018.

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Ballaké Sissoko: picking up the pieces after US customs broke his kora

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Last February, Sissoko’s historic instrument was disassembled on a flight home to Paris. Bolstered by a new kora, his latest album revives their borderless journey

In the Malian language Bamanankan, djourou – the title of Ballaké Sissoko’s forthcoming album – means string. “It’s the string that connects me to others,” he says. For this master of the kora, it is also the string that broke.

Last February, Sissoko returned to Paris after a US tour with his trio 3MA to find that border officials in New York had dismantled his kora. The neck, bridge, strings and custom-built pickup had been removed from the body, made of calabash and parchment. The instrument was beyond repair, and made headlines around the world.

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Weatherwatch: the Gambia’s pleasant subtropical climate

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Tiny west African country enjoys warm temperatures, which are cooler on its tourist-filled coast

As the smallest country on the African mainland – just 30 miles (50km) across at its widest point, and barely larger than Devon and Cornwall combined – you would not expect the Gambia to have a very varied climate. The low-lying nature of the country, which runs along the Gambia River, also means there is little or no altitudinal variation.

But there is a difference in temperature, and especially humidity, between the Atlantic coast in the west and places further upriver: inland sites are noticeably hotter and more humid, especially from March to June. Hence the vast majority of the holiday resorts are situated along the 50-mile coastline, where pleasantly warm winds also offer some relief from the heat.

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The Gambia demands US investigation into police killing of citizen in Atlanta

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Shooting of Lamin Sisay, son of former UN diplomat, last week prompts outrage as family and friends reject police version of events

The Gambia has demanded the US investigate the police killing one of its citizens, a former UN diplomat’s son.

The shooting of Lamin Sisay, 39, in Atlanta last week prompted anger in the Gambian community, who have described it as another example of the police brutality against black Americans that has prompted country-wide protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

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Aung San Suu Kyi heads to Hague for Myanmar genocide showdown

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Peace prize winner will lead her country’s defence against claims at court in Netherlands

A momentous legal confrontation will take place at the UN’s highest court this week when the Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi appears in person to defend Myanmar against accusations of genocide.

Once internationally feted as a human rights champion, Myanmar’s state counsellor is scheduled to lead a delegation to the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

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Aung San Suu Kyi to defend Myanmar against genocide charge at The Hague

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Burmese leader will lead delegation to international court of justice next month

Aung San Suu Kyi will travel to The Hague to defend Myanmar against allegations of genocide, her office has announced.

The Burmese leader, once an icon of democracy but now tainted by her association with what UN investigators have described as crimes against humanity, will lead a delegation to the international court of justice (ICJ) next month.

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Gambia’s joy gives way to sinking distrust as Barrow clings to power

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When he ended the brutal 22-year presidency of Yahya Jammeh, he was hailed as a hero. But the hope inspired by Adama Barrow’s ascent has long since faded

Almost three years ago, Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year rule over the small west African nation of the Gambia came to a shock end. Fed up with the constant fear and human rights abuses, a floundering economy and endemic corruption, Gambians voted out one of Africa’s most notorious strongmen.

The man who beat him, estate agent, businessman and one-time Argos security guard Adama Barrow, was a political nobody who united a divided opposition in a coalition, promising to create jobs, repeal bad laws and create a level political playing field. He also promised to be only a transitional president, resigning after three years.

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Sir Dawda Jawara obituary

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Democratically elected founding father of the Gambia

Sir Dawda Jawara, who has died aged 95, was the first leader of the small west African country of the Gambia when it became independent in 1965. Although he was hailed as a rare democratic leader at a time when Africa was better known for military regimes and single-party states, he was twice overthrown in military putsches.

The first time, in 1981, he was reinstated as president by troops from neighbouring Senegal, while the second time, in 1994, nobody came to his aid and he left the country for eight years. But he was still well respected, and on his death was acknowledged by the current democratically elected president, Adama Barrow, as the Gambia’s founding father.

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‘A killer is always a killer’: Gambia gripped by Junglers’ testimony

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Truth commission reveals evidence of death squad’s abuses over two decades

One of the most notorious killers in the Gambia sits on a grubby mattress on his brother’s stoop, uneasy in his newfound freedom. His nephews fetch cigarettes and brew tea, and birds sing in the mango trees. A cuddly toy crocodile lies near the gate.

Malick Jatta was a member of the Junglers, a death squad trained to do the dirtiest work of the country’s former president, Yahya Jammeh, whose abuses over 22 years in power are being revealed by a truth, reconciliation and reparations commission broadcast live into the living rooms of Africa’s smallest mainland nation.

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Gambian pageant winner accuses ex-president Yahya Jammeh of rape

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Two other unnamed women also accuse Jammeh of rape and sexual assault as investigation claims systematic abuse

A Gambian pageant winner has accused the country’s former president of rape as an investigation claims Yahya Jammeh systematically sexually abused young women.

Jammeh, who reluctantly stepped down in 2017 after 22 years of rule, presented himself as a deeply religious figure and an advocate of girls’ rights and declared his small west African nation an Islamic republic.

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Gambian ex-president ‘stole almost $1bn before fleeing country’

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Yahya Jammeh accused of orchestrating huge theft of government funds

Yahya Jammeh, the former president of the Gambia, orchestrated the theft of almost $1bn (£760m) from his country before his flight into exile two years ago, investigative reporters have alleged.

The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) said it had reviewed thousands of leaked documents that detailed how government funds had been looted over 22 years.

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Chinese fishmeal plants leave fishermen in the Gambia all at sea | Hannah Summers

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Scientists and campaigners warn that factories in coastal villages are wreaking environmental and economic havoc

Before the arrival of fishmeal factories in the Gambia, Musa Duboe would catch red snapper and barracuda to be sold at the local market. But his income had begun to dwindle due to depleted stocks.

Then in 2016 the Chinese-owned fishmeal plant Golden Lead began operating out of the coastal town of Gunjur, increasing demand for fish to export for overseas aquaculture.

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‘We can’t end FGM without talking to men’ – in pictures

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More than 200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation and about 3 million more are at risk every year. Africa has the highest numbers, but its young people are fighting back

Photographs by the Girl Generation

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Gambia’s president-elect says Jammeh can’t demand new vote

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Gambia's ruler of more than 22 years now says he won't accept defeat in the presidential election, ... President-elect Donald Trump is partaking in one the nation's most storied football rivalries, saluting U.S. troops at the annual Army-Navy game on Saturday as he prepares to enter the White House. President-elect Donald Trump is partaking in one of the nation's most storied football rivalries, saluting U.S. troops at the annual Army-Navy game on Saturday as he prepares to enter the White House.