The Gambia Press Union (GPU) on Wednesday concluded a three-day training course for senior journalists and members of civil society organisations on national and international human rights instruments, at the Gambia Telecommunications and Multimedia Institute in Kanifing.
The training course was part of a seven-month project that the GPU is implementing with funding from the German government through its embassy in Dakar, Senegal.
Saikou Jammeh, secretary general of the GPU, said the training exercise is part of the union’s efforts aimed at strengthening and sustaining the global campaign on freedom of the media and of expression in the country.
The training session will refresh and reinforce journalists’ knowledge of human rights, as well as improve the understanding of civil society organisations on human rights and the core values of democracy.
The broader objective of the training workshop is for the journalists and the CSOs to join forces to ensure the values and norms of human rights are promoted and protected in The Gambia.
The lead trainer for the three-day session was human rights lawyer Gaye Sowe, who is the director of programmes at the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa.
He took the participants through topics such as: Introduction to human rights concept, norms and principles; introduction to core international and regional human rights instruments; national institutional and legal framework for protection of human rights, among others.
Ahmed Alota, former executive director of the GPU, delved on the importance of communications rights in the digital age.
