African Women in Media and Luminate Launch ‘Media and Young Women in Politics’ Project

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release

16^th February 2023. Lagos

African Women in Media and Luminate Launch ‘Media and Young Women in Politics’ Project

African Women in Media (AWiM) is delighted to announce the launch of ‘Media and Young Women in Politics’ Project in partnership with Luminate.

The 12-month project is an intervention in the current state of media reporting on young women in politics and the civic participation of young women in Nigeria and Kenya. With Nigeria’s upcoming elections and Kenya’s 2022 elections that saw more women elected into office than ever, focus on both countries is essential in developing transferable best practices for other countries.

The project comprises the following aspects:

• Research into how media currently engage with young women in politics, from which we will produce an accessible industry report, media toolkit and guidelines.
• Commissioning of stories relating to young women in politics and journalists commissioned will have support through two training courses.
• Training and edit-a-thon facilitated by Wikimedia Foundation Nigeria to develop new profiles of young women in politics in Nigeria and Kenya.
• Production of training videos and resources to be provided open access to organisations working to build the capacity of young women in politics and improve the civic participation of young women.

An advisory committee will support the project, providing localised expertise. The advisory committee members are Queenter Mbori, Senior Editor, Standard Media Group; David Omwoyo, CEO, Media Council of Kenya; and Sarah Muhoya, Head of Positioning and Democracy, Echo Network Africa. From Nigeria, there are Toun Okewale Sonaiya, CEO, Women FM Nigeria and Doris Olumoko, News Manager, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Abeokuta, Chairperson, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) Ondo State.

“Healthy democracies are founded on women’s inclusion in all civic processes,” said Toyin Akinniyi, Principal, Africa at Luminate. “This initiative is poised to promote positive, and accurate narratives around women in politics, and ultimately contribute to political processes that are more representative of the populations in Kenya and Nigeria.”

“Media coverage given to women and women’s issues globally, and the currently limited state in which this happens, contributes to this underrepresentation of women in politics, civic participation and political leadership,” said Dr Yemisi Akinbobola, CEO and Co-founder, African Women in Media. ”We are pleased to partner with Luminate to address this gap and to have such a wide range of expertise on our advisory committee.”

Kindly visit https://africanwomeninmedia.com/luminate/  to learn more about the project.

For more information, please contact, janet@africanwomeninmedia.com

ENDS//

About African Women in the Media

African Women in the Media (AWiM) is a network for African women working in media industries globally. We aim to positively impact the way media functions in relation to women, and our vision is that one-day African women and women working in media in Africa will have equal representation in media industries. Follow us on Twitter @RealAWiM and subscribe to our newsletter africanwomeninmedia.com/subscription-page

About Luminate

Luminate is a global foundation working to ensure that everyone –especially those who are underrepresented -has the information, rights, and power to influence the decisions that shape society. The foundation is focused on enabling people to fully participate in civic and political life, to safely challenge power, and to access accurate, trustworthy information. Luminate works globally with a regional focus on Africa, Asia, and Latin America. For more information, visit: https://www.luminategroup.com/about