Voter Education

In the prelude to the 2021 Presidential election, we partnered with National Endowment for Democracy (NED) launched a voter education campaign targeting the rural regions of The Gambia. The project primarily was to prevent possible election-related violence given the volatility of the political atmosphere at the time, and to encourage eligible citizens to participate in the elections. A team from Gambia Participates visited the communities of Bohum Kunda in Wuli East, Upper River Region, Balangharr in Central River Region (North), Bakalarr, Central River Region (Lower Niumi), and Masesmbe Kiang East in the Lower River Region. They met with women, young people, district chairpersons, and community elders and discussed ways to maintain peace and mitigate any instances of violence; particularly the role of the youth. There notably was a significant number of women participants in this activity. We also installed billboards in heavy-traffic locations with simple but important messages about the elections, encouraging the people to vote. Then, recognizing that in the contemporary social media age, videos are arguably the most efficient way to reach a large number of people in a short time, we produced 5-minute animation videos with stories around matters like the voter registration process, how to vote, the date and time of the election and general advice on best practice during the campaign and after voting. We made the videos in the most widely spoken Gambian languages and shared them through the main social media platforms, greatly broadening our reach. We also produced radio jingles in multiple languages. They were aired before and after the most popular programs on the main radio stations. A very large number of Gambians still rely on the radio for information, and most people listen to radio shows on their daily commute.