Youth in Motion: Sustaining Transitional Justice in The Gambia
July 2025
In a country still navigating the legacies of a painful past, young Gambians are reclaiming their place in the nation¡¯s present and future. Across five regions, hundreds of activists joined hands to reshape how justice, reconciliation, and governance unfold in their communities.
With $500,000 USD from the Secretary-General¡¯s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) through the Youth Promotion Initiative, the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) led the two-year project together with local partners Think Young Women, Fantanka, Peace Ambassadors Gambia, and Our Nation, Our Voice, that aimed to amplify the voices of young Gambians and build bridges between them and those in decision-making positions. The project equipped emerging civic actors at local and regional levels with tools to better understand the country¡¯s evolving transitional justice process and to interact directly with the institutions guiding it.
Building Knowledge, One Young Person at a Time
The project began with a simple yet powerful idea: informed youth are empowered citizens. In greater Banjul and in all regions, 276 young Gambians, 152 women and 124 men, took part in trainings on transitional justice, peacebuilding, and sustainable development. Participants sharpened their understanding of the tools available to them, and their role in holding institutions accountable. From this pool, ten peer trainers, six of them female trainers, were selected to carry this initiative forward in their communities, engaging peers through regional outreach and peer-to-peer learning.
The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC)¡¯s final report, released on November 25, 2021, after three years of work, laid bare the depth of abuses committed during two decades of authoritarian rule. Yet few Gambians, particularly young people, had read its recommendations or the Government's 173-page White Paper response outlining a path forward. For many, its five-year plan to implement almost all TRRC recommendations, except for two, the White Paper was inaccessible, complex, and distant. This is where youth leadership came in.
To break down this barrier, youth leaders developed a simplified, 21-page user-friendly version that explained the outcomes of both the TRRC report and the White Paper. It was then translated into the local languages Mandinka and Wolof, adapted into podcasts aired on radio, and shared through social media. Seven hundred printed copies were also distributed, many landing in school libraries.
In July 2024, the initiative expanded its reach, taking its message on the road with a 10-day cross-country caravan. It toured communities across all regions, bringing the simplified White Paper to life through public events, discussions, and community engagement. Peer trainers led town hall-style conversations, distributed materials, and invited participants to reflect on justice and reconciliation in their own terms.
A Culture of Dialogue
Dialogue is at the core of the project. In ten communities across five regions, youth sat face-to-face with local authorities, including governors, chiefs, police officers, and asked hard questions.
In total, 295 individuals participated in these structured youth-authority dialogues, including 246 youth, with 126 women and 120 men and 49 local officials. For many participants, the experience was eye-opening, and most came away with a new sense of clarity and confidence: according to the project¡¯s November 2024 report, 86 percent of young attendees reported feeling confident engaging with decision-makers after the dialogues. This marked a major shift, as very few had ever done so before and many had never imagined such interactions were even possible.
Local authorities, too, reflected on the value of the exchanges, and spoke of their own changed perspectives.
Three of the dialogues included youth with disabilities, further underscoring the project¡¯s commitment to inclusion.? In Basse (Upper River Region), youth with disabilities raised concerns about the inaccessibility of key public offices, including the governor¡¯s office. In response, the governor acknowledged the issue and committed to taking these observations into account during the construction of a new office building.
Beyond Borders: A Regional Awakening
In late 2024, the project convened the country¡¯s first-ever West African Youth Conference on Transitional Justice, gathering 109 participants, including 50 young women and 59 men from Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and C?te d¡¯Ivoire. The event added to the growing Pan-African conversation on youth, justice, and peace. Youth discussed the African Union¡¯s Transitional Justice Policy and explored how a continent-wide platform could amplify their impact.
Art and culture were part of this awakening, too. During the caravan, musicians like Awa Bling and Bobo Dimo used music and performance to address sexual and gender-based violence, share survivors¡¯ stories, and rally young people around the cause of justice. Their art became a medium for healing and civic awareness.
Engaging Institutions, Inspiring Change
Behind every public event was a steady rhythm of engagement with national and local authorities. Steering Committee meetings were co-chaired by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Youth, while ICTJ and its partners held consultations with the Minister of Basic and Secondary Education, the Solicitor General, and Permanent Secretaries from relevant ministries.
The project created dedicated platforms for young participants to meet periodically with these decision-makers, who were, in many cases, unaccustomed to being directly engaged by youth. These encounters helped bridge a long-standing gap between generations that had rarely shared the same civic space, offering young people an opportunity to raise their concerns in their own voices.?
It all came together in a National Youth Dialogue, held on January 29, 2025, in Banjul, which convened 111 participants, including youth from every project region and representatives from state institutions, to assess the state of transitional justice and reflect on the government¡¯s implementation of the TRRC recommendations. Discussions also touched on youth participation in governance, access to public services, socio-economic rights, and broader accountability beyond the TRRC. The exchanges were candid, often sobering. Many were dismayed to learn that only sixteen of the 262 TRRC recommendations had been fully implemented at the time.
And yet the tone was not one of despair but resolve. What can I do about this, today?
A Lasting Impact
Over its two-year span, the project supported four youth- and women-led organizations both financially and technically, and exceeded its gender inclusion target: by the project¡¯s end, all 40 percent of the budget earmarked for gender equality had been invested, and young women comprised 56 percent of direct beneficiaries. It prioritized rural youth and also ensured the inclusion of persons with disabilities, who made up seven percent of all participants. Furthermore, the project created space for intergenerational dialogue in settings where young people had long felt sidelined. Whether in roundtables or creative campaigns, from murals to TikTok videos, young women made their presence felt, bringing attention to issues often overlooked in policy conversations.
The project may have ended, but its influence endures. Across the country, youth-led organizations are continuing the work and peer trainers are still active. In at least two regions, former participants of the project have gone on to form their own grassroots associations determined to carry forward the spirit of civic engagement sparked by the initiative. A new generation of Gambians is learning how to turn their anger and frustration into dialogue, and how to move from memory to action. From classrooms to town halls, from community radios to regional summits, young people are watching closely, raising critical issues, and offering solutions.
In some regions, intergenerational dialogues have continued beyond the life of the project, and national debates increasingly reflect youth priorities. Most recently, youth-led protests demanding transparency over the sale of former President Jammeh¡¯s assets compelled the government to release long-requested details and triggered parliamentary and audit investigations, culminating in the President addressing the issue in a national broadcast. While protesters were not always direct project participants, the momentum reflects a broader political awakening of Gambian youth.
