Assessment of current human rights situation in Africa

Based on my work, when you talk of human rights, it has to do with food security, it has to do with a comfortable environment that has a good climate, and so on. Gambia is one of the least developed countries in the world, and of course many countries in Africa. When you talk of human rights, we are definitely lacking in terms of human rights because you cannot be sufficient, you cannot be independent if you don’t have the basket of food that you need on your table.

You cannot be sufficient, you cannot be independent if you don’t have the basket of food that you need on your table

So this is how I see the situation. There are a lot of issues attached to that. These are chronic issues because people have been talking about them for many many years. Nothing has been done actually or practically. I think the situation is not forthcoming.

State of the commission’s independence

I think the African Commission should be more independent. Of course they should try to engage government authorities, but they should also try to make sure that what they’re implementing is not just in theory or they are not just talking about it all the time. The problems of Africa do not have to be discussed in other places outside of Africa. They have to be discussed here and they have to be solved here. We understand that the African Commission is doing a lot of work, but I think this would be able to bring about impact.

The problems of Africa do not have to be discussed in other places outside of Africa. They have to be discussed here and they have to be solved here

How does the commission exercise its mission to protect human rights?

They are doing a lot when it comes to women’s empowerment, when it comes to agriculture and food security, and also looking at climate issues. Also it has to do with the sensitization that is giving people a clear mindset or a good mindset of all of these things. I think they are doing a lot.

It has to do with the sensitization that is giving people a clear mindset or a good mindset of all of these things

Who can contribute to protecting human rights?

So the main actors are everybody. The authority, that is the government, they are important. The private sector is also important. But individuals also have to play a big role in this.

We have to make sure that the younger generation is well educated, properly educated so that they can take the right steps

We have to make sure that the younger generation is well educated, properly educated so that they can take the right steps not to follow in the same footsteps that have been done before.

If you look at Africa generally, authorities or governments always formulate policies without including the right stakeholders. This is definitely something that cannot bring about any change, because if you are making policy about me, if you are making policy about education, if you are making policies about students, you have to make sure that you bring in good students that can represent the general student union to talk about their problems and how to solve the problems.

Authorities or governments always formulate policies without including the right stakeholders

If you are making policies about agriculture, you have to make sure that you bring in the actors themselves, that is the farmers, let them come and expel their problems; this is what affects us and this is how we want it to be solved. These are things that I want to recommend as far as we want to bring about change and solving food security and climate issues in Africa.