Alliances for Africa will hold a five day training event, which aims to enable and strengthen the capacity of women's organisations working in Gambia to effectively contribute to peace building processes within the West African sub-region.

People say they are appalled by the alarming rate of rape cases and concerned by what they described as lack of action by the government.

The secretary general of a coalition of human rights defenders in Gambia, Mohammed Lamin Sillah, has described the country's human rights record as appalling. Sillah, who is also the local Amnesty International Director, told a news conference that the frequent arrest and detention of innocent citizens, including journalists and human rights activists tarnished Gambia's human rights status.

The Institute for Human Rights & Development in Africa is a pan-African human rights organisation with its headquarters in Banjul, the Gambia. The Institute specialises in the African regional human rights system, including impact litigation in national and international fora based on African human rights treaties, and training in the procedures of African treaty mechanisms.