User:Ebrimajogomai/sandbox

Fatou Jagne-Senghore

'''Early Life and Education ''' Fatou Jagne-Senghore was born in Banjul, The Gambia, to a Senegalese father and Gambian mother, albeit raised between Senegal and the Gambia.< > Attending nursery in The Gambia, she later moved to Senegal for Primary School before returning to Gambia for her High School Education at the Lycée Senegalese de Banjul. She completed her Secondary School Education at the Senegalese High School in the Gambia, from where she earned her Baccalaureate and received a government scholarship from the Senegalese Ministry of Education to study Law at the University of Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegal. She later enrolled at the University of Toulouse 1 Capitole, France< >. She holds an LLM in Economic and Communication Law (1998), an MA in International and European law (1997), a double Bachelor in international relations and development studies (1996), and in law from the University of Toulouse, Capitole and a BA in English Law Speciality jointly awarded by the Universities of Toulouse and Cambridge.< >

Professional Career

Fatou Jagne-Senghore’s professional life has focussed around human rights in Africa< >. An expert in media and communication law and the Africa regional system of Human rights with over 18 years’ experience working as a relentless human rights advocate and campaigner in Africa, Fatou is presently the West Africa Director of the London-based ARTICLE 19, an organisation which serves to defend freedom of expression and information at a global level< >. Her human rights career began in The Gambia in 1999, where she interned for the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA). She later became a Programme Officer at IHRDA, staying with the organisation until 2001< >. Simultaneously, she was a co-founder of the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders in The Gambia. This organisation was established following the killings in April 2000 of 14 students at the hands of the Gambian security services whilst they were protesting the rape of a female student being held in the custody of the Gambian police. Previously, Fatou also worked as a freelance Producer and Presenter of the French News bulletins at the Gambia National Radio and Television Services (GRTS). She joined ARTICLE 19 in February 2002 as an Africa Programme Officer, working out of Johannesburg until 2004 when she moved to Senegal, where she is currently based and from where she directs the activities of ARTICLE 19’s regional office for West Africa which she established in 2010< >.

'''Advocacy Work ''' A crucial part of her work over the past years focused on promoting and defending human rights across the continent especially in both Senegal and The Gambia< >. In this capacity, she became a significant voice against the repressive regime of former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, constructing networks of human rights organisations throughout the region which were able to expose and challenge ex-President Jammeh’s illegal actions in The Gambia. Through this work of encouraging and defending freedom of expression and human rights, she has become a well-known figure in Senegal and The Gambia. But her work is not limited solely to the West Africa region. Between 2002 and 2005, Fatou coordinated ARTICLE 19’s work to assist the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) to develop a Declaration on Freedom of Expression in Africa and collaborated with the ACPHR Focal Point to carve out the framework for the mechanism of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression in Africa. From 2011 to 2012, she represented ARTICLE 19 in the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) lead advocacy called the Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG), and supported programmes development for ARTICLE 19 in Tunisia after the Arab Spring. She continues to sit on a number of oversight committees and working groups, including the Africa Regional Advisory Group (ARAG) of Amnesty International - providing strategic advice to Regional Offices and Amnesty Sections and local Structures.

'''Personal Life ''' Fatou is married to Alasan Senghore< >, a Gambian National, who is currently the Head of Delegation and Permanent Observer of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to the United Nations. They have two children. Fatou is currently based in Senegal and is fluent in English and French.

'''References '''