On Tuesday, 28 July 2026, the Raise the Young Foundation successfully launched the maiden edition of the Girls Summer Bantaba at the Kanifing Municipal Library. The event marked the beginning of a transformative journey designed to empower young women with leadership skills, knowledge, confidence, and the tools needed to become active agents of change in their communities.

More in the press release.

Former soldier Sanna Manjang, whom the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission has mentioned as committing serious crimes, including torture, during the former regime, has taken the witness stand for the first time in his trial before the High Court in Banjul.

More in this court report.

Multiple news outlets have reported that South African mobs have broken into homes where African migrants reside, arresting them, parading them through the streets, and handing them over to the police on 9th July 2026.

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The Gambia’s Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act 2023 is facing renewed scrutiny after the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) confirmed that it “received 11 allegations of torture” against security personnel in 2025. However, despite the law being in force for three years, no case has yet reached the courts, a magistrate has confirmed to Askanwi.

More in this feature report.

The Women’s Association for Women and Victims Empowerment (WAVE) launched its annual human rights festival at Makumbaya on 20th June 2026, with a day of panel discussions, cultural performances, face painting and a documentary screening.

At the opening session, the Executive Secretary of the Reparations Commission announced that the Commission has disbursed D20 million in reparations to victims and is in the process of distributing an additional D5 million this year.

More in this feature publication.

The Gambia could soon impose a minimum fine of D3 million on individuals convicted of “aggravated migrant smuggling,” as lawmakers continue scrutinising the proposed Immigration Bill 2026, which seeks to criminalise migrant smuggling for the first time in the country’s history.

More in this parliamentary report.

The convening of women human rights defenders in Dakar has positioned the Afrofeminist methodology of the Réseau des Femmes Leaders pour le Développement (RFLD) as an emerging continental model for engagement and protection. By giving defenders the first voice before state representatives, diplomats and continental institutions, the gathering reversed traditional power dynamics and placed civil society analysis at the centre of policy discussions. Participants and institutional partners framed the approach as a shift from consultation to accompaniment, arguing that the women carrying the work must also shape the response architecture designed to protect them.

More in the press release.

The Gambia is set to take a major step in tackling irregular migration as lawmakers prepare to consider a new Immigration Bill that could, for the first time, specifically criminalise migrant smuggling in the country.

The Immigration Bill 2026, which is scheduled to be tabled before the National Assembly on Monday, 8th June 2026, seeks to repeal and replace the main immigration legislation that has been in force for more than six decades.

More in this parliamentary report.

Nearly five years after The Gambia's Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) documented killings, torture, enforced disappearances and other human rights violations committed by state security agents, ANEKED Country Director Ms Sirra Ndow has called for a people-centred approach to security sector reform, stressing that the ultimate goal to ensure that Gambians never again fear the institutions meant to protect them.

More in the news report.

Western Sahara human rights defenders alleged that they are being silenced in The Gambia, highlighting that their side event at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights 87th Ordinary Session was cancelled by the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre (SDKJ-ICC) yesterday, 12th May 2026.

More in the report from Banjul.

After waiting hours for a magistrate to be assigned to commence the trial, some 14 activists affiliated with the anti-corruption youth movement, Gambians Against Looted Assets (GALA), were granted court bail on Monday, 11th May 2026, after being charged with unlawful assembly and common nuisance by police.

More in the court report.

As risks against journalists persist in the country, participants of the recent Gambia Press Union’s (GPU) Hazardous Environment Awareness Training (HEAT) have revealed that the programme has become a critical lifeline, equipping them with skills that could mean the difference between safety and serious harm.‍

More in the news report.