Banjul—Every day, young people talk about school, work, relationships and their hopes for the future. Yet many still find it difficult to talk about what is happening in their own minds.
Across The Gambia, stigma and discrimination continue to make conversations about mental health challenging. For some young people, asking for help can feel risky. Others worry they will not be understood. Too often, struggles with stress, anxiety or depression remain hidden behind silence.
This is the silence that four young people—Lamin Fofana, Aisha Sarr, Isatou Saho and Aji Jacob Njie—are working to break.
Their journey began in November 2025, when they participated in the Child and Young People’s Mental Health Workshop, an online platform that brought together young advocates from the African region. Through discussions on anxiety, depression, substance abuse, stigma and suicide prevention, they increased their understanding of mental health and, importantly, the role young people can play in shaping solutions.
Motivated to take forward what he had learned, Fofana started creating spaces where young people could talk openly about their experiences and support one another. “I started small,” he recalls. “We simply created a space where young people could discuss their mental health experiences. Then more people joined.”
Those conversations gradually expanded into community and online discussions where young people could speak openly about their well-being and learn about available support. Through this experience, Fofana realized that many young people were willing to talk about mental health. They simply needed a safe place to begin.
According to Sarr, the workshop revealed that not every struggle is visible. Anxiety, pressure and fear can remain hidden when young people do not feel able to speak openly. “I left that workshop knowing I wanted to be part of the solution,” she says. She is convinced that young people simply need the confidence and language to recognize when they or someone around them may need support.
With continued mentorship from World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Mental Health Programme in The Gambia, the four advocates participated in the Mental Health Intercountry Learning Workshop on Accelerating Progress Towards the 2030 <a href="https://absafricatv.com/the-north-african-people-with-a-forgotten-christian-heritage/” title=”The North African people with a forgotten Christian heritage”>African Regional Mental Health Targets, held from in July 2026 in Lomé, Togo.
“Investing in mental health is an investment in human potential. When people are empowered to care for their mental well-being and seek help when needed, communities become healthier, more resilient, and better equipped to thrive,” says Dr Ifeanyi Udenweze, Team Lead for Health Emergencies at WHO in The Gambia.
The regional workshop brought together participants from across Africa to advance work on mental health policy and services, including community and school-based mental health, suicide prevention, addictive behaviours and digital mental health interventions.
This time, the young advocates were not simply participants: they helped lead the conversation. Saho co-moderated discussions on addictive behaviours and digital mental health interventions, while Sarr co-moderated a youth and suicide prevention session.
“For many years, mental health has been a difficult topic to discuss openly. Seeing young people lead these conversations gives us hope that the next generation will grow up in communities where seeking help is seen as a strength, not a weakness,” says Jarra Marega, Programme Manager for National Mental Health at The Gambia’s Ministry of Health.
As a nursing student, Saho has seen how stigma continues to prevent many people from seeking support when they need it most. “In many communities, people still fear talking about mental health,” she says. “Some believe asking for help means you are weak.”
Determined to challenge these beliefs, Saho encourages peers to view seeking help as an act of courage, helps to normalize conversations about emotional well-being and reminds young people they are not alone.
Njie believes that the conversation must move beyond awareness to action. She maintains that young people are already supporting one another, but stronger systems and greater investment are needed to ensure they are not left to carry the burden alone. “We have the policy. We have the evidence. We have the will. Now we need the action,” she says.
