Strengthening the media’s ability to report on gender and development issues in the SADC region
Linked with Pilirani Semu-Banda – Malawi, and with Daughters for loan under fire.
Small Grants on Gender Reporting in Southern Africa:
In 2003 SARDC-WIDSAA offered small grants to enable Journalists to research and write articles that reflect the range of perspectives related to gender policies and their effect among communities, the rural poor, and governments in the region. The grant is part of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency’s (Sida) support to WIDSAA phase III’s work in the SADC region.
gender beat checklist;
key gender instruments;
gender & media project of SARDC/journalists;
recent publications;
mail-contact.
Why Gender and Media: Gender is a common thread that runs through every issue, whether one is addressing issues of poverty reduction, HIV and AIDS, health, education, human rights, democracy and elections, good governance, or development. In southern Africa the multiplicity of debates on gender and development within the SADC region, as well as the rapid change in issues and approaches to the work being done in this field, pose a huge challenge for regional integration, governance and economic emancipation … (full text).
Rationale (scroll down): Gender is still a subject that the mainstream media would not want to spend time and money on. But like any good reporting, gender reporting requires that journalists get out of their desks and go out and report. Our rationale is that for the media to fulfil its role of informing and shaping informed public debate on gender concerns and agendas in the region, the media must:
- understand and interpret the SADC Gender Declaration (+ Addendum) and other regional and global instruments on gender;
- have access to the information that is essential to enable them to inform the general public and report on the complexity of gender issues in the region;
- and be constantly provided with technical skills to enable them to effectively report on multifaceted issues such as gender, development on human rights;
- have access to the information that is essential to enable them to inform the general public and report on the complexity of gender issues in the region.