Pa Modou Cham

Reacting to the recent cabinet reshuffle by President Adama Barrow, the outspoken government mouthpiece stated: “I am a gender advocate and my wish is to have women securing half of the ministerial positions. For 20 years, The Gambia has Women's Bureau but President Barrow is the first president to create a Ministry of Gender. This shows that the government has empowered the women.

Lawmakers will decide to either repeal or maintain the existing FGM law in The Gambia in an anticipated parliamentary debate which is expected to be attended by rights activists across the country. FGM has been declared a human rights violation by all rights groups, thus warranting its ban by the Jammeh government in 2015. Since Barrow took over office in 2017, a section of Gambia’s Muslim leaders including the Supreme Islamic Council took a bold stance to promote the act despite its ban.