By Omar Bah
Beakanyang Kafoo, a registered non-profit, non-political, and independent development, advocacy, and human rights organisation in The Gambia, has announced the establishment of 48 human rights clubs in 48 schools across the country.
Beakanyang aims to enhance the participation of disadvantaged people in issues relating to good governance, human rights, child rights, as well as women and youth development in The Gambia.
Two weeks ago, the group organised a three-day training for 40 school-based human rights club teacher coordinators at Baobab Hotel.
The training was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.
Nfamara Jawneh, executive director of Beakanyang, said the objective of establishing the human rights clubs is to contribute towards building a human rights culture in the country by targeting young people at the school level.
“The clubs empower students to think critically and voice their opinions on pressing societal issues through open dialogue and respectful debates,” he said.
He said the number of clubs is expected to increase significantly by the next academic year as other schools have already expressed interest in joining the movement.
“With the help of our teacher coordinators and human rights educators, our human rights education programme is reaching thousands of young people and women across the country, thus teaching them about their fundamental human rights and issues of gender-based violence such as harmful traditional practices,” he said.
Mr Jawneh said with the help of Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI), they have provided over 6,000 copies of UDHR to schools and communities across the country.
He commended the Higher Commissioner for Human Rights, UNDP, and the UN Peacebuilding Fund for supporting his organisation.
He said thanks to their partners, most of their affiliated schools’ kids, even in grade 3, have mastered the 30 Articles of the UDHR.
The permanent secretary at the ministry of basic and secondary education and several other dignitaries witnessed the opening ceremony and made statements on the importance of discussing issues of human rights in schools.
The training was conducted by human rights activist Madi Jobarteh.
