The Gambia's President Adama Barrow speaks at a conference “Shaping The Gambia's Future: How to Build a Path to Sustainable Progress,” April 18, 2018. Photo by Chatham House and used with permission via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Editor's note: This article by Reyhana Masters is republished through a partnership between Global Voices and IFEX and originally appeared here. Ahead of The Gambia's Universal Periodic Review, IFEX regional editor Reyhana Masters asks: What issues are at the top of civil society’s agenda? Saikou Jammeh, with the Gambian Press Union, Vivian Affoah, with Media Foundation for West Africa, Alieu Sowe, with the Give1 Project and Demba Kandeh, an associate professor at the University of The Gambia, share their thoughts on the country’s progress and remaining challenges, in Geneva, Switzerland, ahead of the upcoming Universal Periodic Review Process in November: “I am hopeful…” “We hope…” “There’s a lot of hope…” This cautious note can be traced back to the trauma of living under the tyrannical rule of former President Yahya Jammeh. The residue of the abusive and autocratic 22 years of his rule remains embedded in the people of The Gambia. The change of leadership in 2017 heralded a new administration that brought change, but not memory loss. Saikou Jammeh, secretary-general of the Gambia Press Union (GPU), explained: The things that happened under Jammeh are currently living with us. The human rights violations remain with us. It requires a lot of work to fix what has been damaged. … The biggest challenge that we are facing is that we have a president who does not see himself as a transitional president. As long as he sees himself in a permanent role, he will be making political decisions and not moral and honourable decisions. Those political decisions may not be favourable to the demand for justice for those violations. “The things that happened under Jammeh are currently living with us. The human rights violations remain with us. It requires a lot of work to fix what has been damaged.” — Saikou Jammeh, secretary-general, The Gambia Press Union The dramatic entry of the mild-mannered, soft-spoken Adama Barrow into the political landscape of The Gambia was considered temporary. It was always the plan that with support and backing from seven of the opposition political parties, Barrow would take over the helm as president for three years, carry out the immediate reforms needed for an enabling environment for free and fair elections — and then step down. His reluctance to do that has given birth to a grassroots movement — “Three Years Jotna” or “Three Years Enough” — which has resolved to dispute his continued leadership through protests in December. The hopes people have of Barrow and his government going into this third cycle of the UPR process are high, specifically because the state response to the first and second cycles of the UPR was so disappointing. Whether their hopes will be realized is not clear. Jammeh summed it up this way: There is no doubt that this government will be more cooperative in accepting the recommendations. It remains to be seen whether they will be more cooperating in terms of implementation of the recommendations. Former president of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, September 2003. Photo courtesy IISD/Earth Negotiations Bulletin via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Every member country of the United Nations goes through a five-year intense human rights review cycle that incorporates three stages. The compilation of the report ahead of the UPR review is the first critical step, and civil society organizations, human rights institutions and UN agencies are all part of the process. Vivian Affoah, Media Foundation West Africa, Matt Redding, IFEX, Sabrine Baáboura, RIDH, and Sheriff Bojang Jnr from The Gambia Press Union, in Geneva, Switzerland, October 8, 2019. Photo courtesy of IFEX. “In the 2010 review, The Gambia rejected all recommendations … aimed at addressing issues of press freedom, freedom of expression, freedom of information, the safety of journalists and impunity,” recalled Vivian Affoah, freedom of expression program manager at the Media Foundation for West Africa. “The state supported 68 recommendations in 2010, and these were primarily the non-controversial issues.” The Gambia was absent during the adoption of its UPR report at the Human Rights Council (HRC) on March 28, 2015. Instead, they provided a written response to the 171 recommendations, indicating their acceptance of 93 and “noting” 78, essentially, rejecting them. “This was a remarkable improvement in terms of the state’s responses, but why there was a change of position remains a mystery,” Jammeh said.