A needs assessment activity has been carried out in the Gambia in 2015 during which national stakeholders addressed the importance of promoting local cultures and the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. These activities allowed to point out the need to raise awareness and support national institutions to reinforce their knowledge of the 2003 Convention and its implementation mechanisms. The importance of building a national strategy to safeguard intangible heritage and to review current strategy documents on culture in general was also underlined. This activity aimed also do develop a project proposal based on the identified needs.