By Omar Bah
States Department on Tuesday announced that Secretary of State Antony J Blinken had a telephone conversation with President Adama Barrow about the United States shared commitment to democratic principles and protecting human rights, including the rights of women and girls. “The Secretary of State shared his appreciation for The Gambia as a leading voice on the protection of human rights globally,” the Department of State said.
According to the Department of State, The Gambia plays an active role in international affairs, especially the Economic Community of West African States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
“The Gambia and the United States belong to a number of the same international organisations, including the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organisation,” the US State Department said.
Relations
The United States continues to assist The Gambia in strengthening its democracy, combating trafficking in persons, improving fiscal transparency, governance capacity building, electoral reform, security, the preservation of human rights, education development, media freedom, agricultural expansion, rural development, refugee support services, and the fight against HIV/AIDS.
In December 2017, the US approved the reinstatement of The Gambia’s eligibility for preferential trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), effective January 1, 2018.
After being selected by the Millennium Challenge Corporation to develop a threshold program in 2017, program development was paused in 2019 when The Gambia was downgraded to Tier 3 on the annual US Trafficking in Persons Report.
A number of US citizens have set up small businesses in The Gambia and several US brand companies such as Western Union, MoneyGram, UPS, and FedEx are represented in the country.
