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Sunday November 17, 2024
The report for African Women in Media’s (AWiM) sixth conference (#AWiM2022 which took place in Fez, Morocco on 8-9 December is finally out.
Themed “United in Action,”’ discussions were wide-ranging across three sub-themes: Gender Equality in and through Media; Collective Action and Representation; and Media Business and Global Challenges. ‘United in Action’ refers to the coming together of all stakeholders in gender equality, in our shared experiences, and unity among media practitioners, academics, policy actors and civil society towards gender equality in the newsroom and in media content.
It should be noted that the conference shared best practices and collaborative action to impact positively the way media functions in relation to African women.
It should be noted that the proceedings of the conference were marked by the presentation of disturbing figures, according to a field study carried out in several African countries: the representation of African women in the media does not exceed 22 per cent.
Here is the list of recommendations which were presented:
Instituting gender-sensitive policies in media organisations
Women must be integrated into the technology sections of media companies and they must be trained to occupy high positions of leadership.
There is a dire need for the implementation and application of policies to stop sexual harassment and similarly the media must be gender-monitored by regulations.
Women must be motivated and supported to take roles in media positions, and they need to be aware of the policies and regulations that support them.
Funding allocations in media organisations should account for the inequality between the genders in the media space.
Funding must be allocated to promote equality.
Implementation of policies must take into account societal/cultural conditioning and they must be contextual.
Women in media must be part of policy making and media organizations must guarantee safe spaces where women can feel comfortable to be vocal.
Media organisations must develop and implement egalitarian policies and frameworks that would support both skilled men and women in this industry to progress and work towards achieving the UN’s 2030 SDP goals which address the dominant narrative of inequalities both in Nigeria and Africa’s media industry.
Visual representation of women in mainstream and online media
Media organizations must be more mindful of the way they portray women, and strive for more nuanced and accurate representation. This can be achieved through more diverse representation in media production, as well as more careful and responsible reporting on issues related to women. By working towards more balanced and fair representation, the media can play a positive role in challenging and dismantling harmful stereotypes and promoting a more just and equal society.
Women in media and the global challenges of peace, security, climate change and food security.
Media must frame the harms caused by climate change to vulnerable Global South communities. Climate Change is a human rights issue.
Climate policy needs to incorporate climate justice and human rights perspectives.
Women, People of Color, and vulnerable communities in Africa should have a say in the creation and implementation of international climate change mitigation efforts and climate justice policies.
For practical and effective climate change mitigation, we must also unleash the knowledge and capability of women in Africa.
On women’s representation in political participation.
Online sexual harassment, _nuance, laws, culture sabotage, and media misrepresentation are all challenges that limit female political participation, the media should be mandated to equitably cover women in addition to media training on gender sensitivities while making their coverage.
Proposed actions for equitable participation of women in politics in Africa include:
Women and digital technologies.
Digital technologies must amplify women’s voices and encourage the voiceless ones to speak and enhance female agency within African social contexts.
There is a need for a democratic digital platform that will give voice to the voiceless.
Digital technologies should be used to strengthen and deepen female political participation and there should be an urgent call for more social agencies that advocate women’s political participation and activism.
Women’s rights concerns should be regarded as human rights.
Women’s Opinion leaders can influence political movements on digital platforms, so their responsibility is to engage in such movements and to make the movements visible as long as they give rise to change.
Pertinently, solidarity between women from diverse countries should be promoted to overcome the problems of representation on digital platforms.
Similarly, movements from different countries should look for common ground in which there is much more synergy.
Mental Health and the media for health advocacy.
Media companies should involve in-country professional bodies to provide psychosocial support for journalists.
Strategies to enhance holistic protection for women journalists included the development of a handbook to carry out holistic protection, and sensitization training programs for women journalists.
Journalists should have appropriate work schedules that allow them to have social support outside the organization.
Media organizations should formalize working relationships with various organizations that offer mental health care services e.g., hospitals or those that offer education in counselling and mental health insurance providers and others that offer counselling services.
Media houses should strengthen organizational administrative justice systems, implement workplace discrimination policies, and diversity occupation of health and health policies.
Media organizations should be sensitized on comprehensive induction programs that focus on workplace violation, and enforcement of human resource policies to ensure holistic protection of women in the media and civil society bases.
Media managers should organize social well-being events that provide forums to educate family members and the community on journalism and its contribution to democracy.
Sexual harassment of women in the workplace
There is a need to support women outside the media houses in resource mobilization to solicit _finances and in-kind support from the government, civil society, medical services, and public centres.
There is a need for innovation to train members and a wider reach of media houses to reach the locals.
There should be a collaboration of the media houses with the state to give women more protection from sexual harassment.
Media organizations must create opportunities for income through funding and partnering with other developed media houses.
Collective action and representation of women in media
There is a need to establish community media set up by female professional journalists in rural areas which promote the development and education needs of women.
Media partners and allies should initiate media literacy education, especially regarding 21st-century media technology to increase the participation of rural women as both news sources and news subjects.
There is a need for the dissemination of information in local vernacular language and increase funding to promote inclusive digital participation of women.
There is an increasing need for mentorship, having more women mentors in senior positions who will mentor others, bring them in and show them how to climb the career ladder and how to progress in their careers. This will make more women work in key positions roles, and make key decisions that will positively impact women in the industry.
Finally, there should be more spaces to talk about the issues of inequality by amplifying voices using forums like conferences, symposiums, and the like.
