THE REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA’S COMBINED REPORT ON THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN & PEOPLES’ RIGHTS & INITIAL REPORT ON THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA Although culture is not formally taught in The Gambia, arts form part of the school curricula from the lower basic cycle to the secondary level and examination by the West African Education Council (WAEC). In the lower basic cycle students receive instructions in the Creative and Performing Arts and Handicraft. Arts and craft, Sculpture and technical drawing are offered at the upper basic cycle, and Arts, technical drawing, and Home Economics are available at the secondary level. Private groups and institutions also perform plays, both for stage and television and some films have been produced featuring Gambian actors. The Gambia Copyright Act of 2004 provides protection of copyright for literary work, artistic work, musical works, sound recordings, audio visual works, choreographic works, derivative works listed under the Act, and programme – carrying signals. The Act also protects by copyright an expression of folklore “against reproduction; communication to the public by performance; broadcasting, distribution by cable or other means; and adaptation, translation and other transformation, where the expression is made either for commercial purposes or outside a traditional or customary context.’’ The Act also protects the right of the population to benefit from cultural expressions and enjoy their cultural heritage. ARTICLE 23 RIGHT TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY AS AFFIRMED BY THE CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND AFRICAN UNION. The Gambia is party to various international instruments at multilateral, bilateral and sub-regional levels. The Gambia has also continued to play an important role in peace and security in the region through contributions of peace keeping troops to UNMID in Darfur, and ECOMOG in Liberia and also East Timor, Central African Republic among other nations. It has also provided safe refuge for refugees from neighbouring countries such as Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Senegal. According to the 2017 Global Peace Index, The Gambia has fallen 18 places since 2016 and is among the top five countries to have experienced the largest deterioration of an ongoing conflict situation. Despite the country’s fragile socio-economic and political climate, in 2017 The Gambia peacefully transitioned to a new political authority through democratic means. On 1 December 2016, Gambians took to the polls and replaced then-president Yahya Jammeh with the current president, Adama Barrow. 113