GEMSA Newsletter March 2005
Date: March 31, 2005
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Much has happened since our last newsletter – Beijing +10 has come and gone; the Zimbabwe elections have taken place and as we write, the third session of the Pan-African Parliament is underway.
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E-Newsletter of the Gender and Media Southern Africa Network |
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Issue 3, March 2005 |
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IN THIS ISSUE: · Alerts! · Letter from Exco · Breakthroughs · Notice board · Gender justice barometer · Network news · Resources
Remember to send information you think that the network will find useful to: admin@genderlinks.org.za and we will include this in the newsletter. The newsletter reaches over 800 individuals and organisations, so share with us your challenges and successes so that collectively we can build a stronger gender and media network in the region. Contact your GEMSA country representatives: Angola: Anacleta Pereira Botswana: Pamela Dube Lesotho: Mathabang Fanyane Malawi: Stella Mhura Mauritius: Loga Virahsawmy Mozambique: Jose Marciano Mubai Namibia: Sarry Xoagus- Eises Seychelles: Jean Claude Mantombe South Africa: Kubi Rama Swaziland: Phumelele Dlamini Tanzania: Rose Haji Zambia: Emmanuel Kasongo Zimbabwe: Loveness Jambaya Contact the GEMSA Executive Committee: Chair: Colleen Lowe Morna (South Africa) Deputy Chair: Emmanuel Kasongo (Zambia) Secretary: Tom Mapesela (Lesotho) Treasurer: Patricia Made (Zimbabwe) We would like to know your thoughts on the newsletter. Write to us at info@genderlinks.org.za We encourage you to send us alerts, news and any other information you think may be of interest to others. Media Institute of Southern Africa Gender Links |
AlertsHit and miss … Zimbabwe fails to reach SADC 30 percent target While much of the media’s coverage on the Zimbabwe election has focused on the contentious nature of the elections and its outcomes, there has been little – if at all – coverage on how women fared in the elections. GEMSA in Zimbabwe – GEMZi – reports that the country has lost its chance to meet the SADC target of 30 percent women’s representation in the recent elections. Women’s representation in parliament has increased to 24 out of 150 eats, or 16 percent: a far cry from the 30 percent SADC target set in 1997 and an insignificant increase from the 10.6 percent previously. Only two of the 10 governors; and two of the 12 non-constituency MPs are women. There are no women on the Chiefs Council. President Robert Mugabe is still to announce the 30 appointed MPs. This could tip the scales to some extent, but is unlikely to make a major difference. Media Watch Organisation demands removal of sexist advert Media Watch Organisation is demanding that action be taken against the usage of a sexist advert for t-shirts in Mauritius. The advert has a number of equally offensive variations including one, prominently displayed on waste bins across the island which depicts the disproportionately large breasts a woman in a t-shirt with the words “If only these were brains” printed over the breasts! MWO has sent a letter to the Sex Discrimination Division demanding that urgent action be taken to remove the offensive adverts. MWO President Loga Virahsawmy, is concerned about this “subtle form of violence” and says: “Not a day goes by without a woman, with or without huge breasts, being attacked, raped or murdered. And now to add it’s their dose of gender violence, this advertising company has decided to use women’s breasts to downgrade women even more.” The letter to the Sex Discrimination Division states: “Women are human beings and not sexual objects and in the name of human dignity and human rights we demand that the Sex Discrimination Division, the Municipal councils and Ministry of Environment take urgent action so that these advertisements are removed.” Read the letter to the Sex Discrimination Division and an article written by MWO President on this issue. For more information and to support the campaign contact Loga Virahsawmy at gonaz@intnet.mu SAGEM launches consumer petition against sexist ad The South Africa Gender and Media Network (SAGEM) has launched a consumer campaign against a sexist advert which appeared in the March 2005 issue of The Media magazine. The advert is for Isolezwe, South Africa’s only daily vernacular newspaper. The offensive advert is pegged on two images: the first depicts a young woman in traditional attire with the text: “If you are trying to reach the modern market …” written underneath it. Next to this is the second image of a ‘bikini clad’ young woman with the text “you won’t have to look very far” completing the sentence started with the first image, running under it. SAGEM states: “The advertisement plays into several damaging stereotypes including the devaluing of culture and tradition in favour of “modern” values… The advert contradicts the strong shift towards recognising the positive values and practices inherent in all culture and tradition.” SAGEM is running an online consumer campaign. View the advert by going to: http://womensnet.org.za/activist/ For more information contact the SAGEM Chair, Kubi Rama at kubi@genderlinks.org.za Letter from Exco …Dear friends and members Much has happened since our last newsletter – Beijing +10 has come and gone; the Zimbabwe elections have taken place and as we write, the third session of the Pan-African Parliament is underway. This period has been significant for GEMSA as a number of important developments have taken place which we share with you below: Network manager Most exciting – and a sure sign of the network’s development – is the soon to be appointed Gender and Media Network Manager. An important role of the Network Manager will be to raise funds for the networks so that they can be as autonomous as possible in terms of meeting our common vision. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE STILL OPEN TO APPLICATIONS UNTIL COB FRIDAY 15 APRIL! HIV/AIDS and Gender Policies Following the Media Partners Consultation in February, GEMSA is playing a lead role in the policy leg of the Media Action Plan on HIV/AIDS and Gender that is being co-ordinated by the Southern African Editors Forum. GEMSA Exco members took part in a reference group meeting on 11 April for a handbook that will be used by partner organisations in rolling out such policies across the region over the next two years. The Times of Zambia and Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation gender policy pilot projects presented at the GEM Summit last year have provided a major impetus to this initiative. More on this as the country roll out begins… SADC Accountability Forum Following the Media Partners’ Consultation in February, we are also looking at how we can link up with other partners around calling our SADC governments account on where we are on gender at the Heads of State Summit in Gaborone. The fact that this year is the 10th anniversary of Beijing as well as the deadline for the 30 percent target of women’s representation provides an important opportunity to “take stock” of the situation in our region. What is proposed is a three day conference – “SADC and Gender 2005: Taking Stock” to be held in the run up to the SADC Heads of State Summit which will: · Gather activists, experts and decision-makers to assess progress towards achieving the objectives of the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development; in particular the 30 percent target for women in decision-making and measures to eradicate violence against women and children as set out in the Addendum. · Assess the new threats to the achievement of gender equality and how these can be confronted. · Present to heads of state proposals for renewing and reinvigorating their commitment to the Declaration. · Lobby for ratification of the African Protocol on the Rights of Women and to devise strategies for domesticating this, including through sharing model legislation. · Invigorate collaborative efforts for achieving gender equality in the region and bring in new partners in the process, eg from the media and communication sectors. We will keep you posted. Interested organisations can also contact Colleen Lowe Morna at clmorna@mweb.co.za Using ICTs for advocacy and networking Gender Links has received some funds to conduct in-country workshops on the use of information technology for advocacy and networking. It plans to conduct these workshops in partnership with GEMSA country chapters and to use them to boost membership in each country as well as to discuss how country level plans of action are developing. Watch this space for details. Funding GEMSA has been awarded some funding from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) for two projects: gender and HIV/AIDS in newsrooms and tools for analysing media laws from a gender perspective. Thanks to our treasurer Pat Made for her efforts in raising these funds. Meetings GEMSA Exco met in the wings of the MAP HIV/AIDS and Gender policy reference group meeting this week. A number of meetings around GL initiatives during the week of 3 May will bring together members of the Network Committee for broader consultations on the POA. Till then and till next time! GEMSA Executive Committee Breakthroughs!Media monitoring made simple The Media Monitoring Project (MMP) is currently in the process of developing a stand-alone, media monitoring tool, which will be used for monitoring the representation and coverage afforded to gender in the media. This gender media monitoring tool will have the following functionality and benefits: · User-friendly, quick and easy to install; · Upgradeable, turnkey application; · Can be used repeatedly; · Will enable the development and sustainability of a gender media monitoring archive, through the database from each tool used; · Can be used within a single organisation, country, or internationally; · Will use a standardised gender media monitoring methodology, which will enable comparative data; · The production of almost instantaneous results; the time between the monitoring period and the production of the results is minimal; · The capacity to electronically disseminate information internationally; · The capability for gender media monitoring to be conducted on an ongoing basis, which will ensure that trends and advances in the representation of gender can be tracked. A key element in the design of the tool is consultation with GEMSA members to find out what members will need and what they would like to see and get out of a monitoring tool. The MMP will be in touch soon. For more information contact William Bird at mmp@sn.apc.org Notice boardVacancy: Gender and Media Network Manager GL and its networking partners seek the services of an experienced, highly motivated and committed individual to manage and promote the growth of GEMSA and its country chapters.
Turning plans into action The first week of May will be a busy one for GEMSA and Gender Links as a series of meetings and workshops related to implementing the GEMSA and Gender Links Programme of Action will take place in Johannesburg. Starting with a meeting at which the second phase of the groundbreaking Gender and Media Audience Study will take root, representatives from academic institutions and gender and media networks from Angola; Lesotho; Malawi; Seychelles; Tanzania and Zimbabwe will come together to discuss the implementation of the audience research in their countries. This will be followed by a workshop on mainstreaming gender in journalism education and training at which the GEMSA Trainers Network will be established. The programme will include a discussion on gender and media resource material available for training at which the updated Gender Links Virtual Resource Centre (VRC) will be demonstrated. The VRC discussion will focus on plans to train in the use of IT and the VRC in various countries in the region and to work through how trainers can contribute to the VRC on an ongoing basis. Since the summit in September 2004 GEMSA chapters in the region have been growing and have been involved in a number of activities. At the same time the GEMSA executive has been fine tuning the GEMSA action plans. The next meeting will provide a forum to share individual GEMSA chapters’ plans for 2005 and to look at regional plan of action all GEMSA chapters will be part of during 2005. Recognising the important role that media monitoring has played in gender and media activism, Gender Links is extending its Mirror on the Media Project to Zimbabwe, Malawi and Lesotho. A one-day meeting with representatives from each country will discuss logistics, methodology, which media and what themes will be monitored. The last meeting of the week will be a discussion and brainstorming session with practitioners, trainers and others around the development of materials on gender, the economy and the media. In the long term the plan is to develop a training manual on gender, the economy and the media; train trainers using this manual; popularise it in the SADC region; increase awareness about and reporting on the role of women in the economy. Contact Kubi Rama at kubi@genderlinks.org.za for more information. Launch of historic Gender and Media Audience Study May 3rd, World Press Freedom Day will mark the official launch of the Gender and Media Audience Study. The central question of the study was whether there are similarities or differences in the way in which women and men interact with the news. The findings of the study are critical for both consumers and producers of media. The overall launch of the study – the first part of which covered six countries – will take place in South Africa on May 3rd while the Media Watch Organisation will launch the findings of the Mauritian part of the study on the same day. Launches will take lace in Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia before the end of June this year. For more information contact Kubi Rama at kubi@genderlinks.org.za Join the ranks of Africa’s opinion shapers Share your views and opinions by becoming a writer for the Gender and Media Opinion and Commentary Service. The GEM Service provides the media with fresh perspectives on the lives of women and men in Africa. The service, a product of Gender Links, targets the opinion and editorial pages of mainstream media in Africa and provides content that reflects on issues of gender and power relations in a way that appeals to a broad audience. Content is generated through commissioning articles from activists, academics, media and gender practitioners and others on the gendered aspects of critical issues of the day. For more information and to join the ranks of opinion shapers in Africa send an email to Jan Moolman at janine@genderlinks.org.za. Please indicate your area of interest. Dag Hammarskjold Fellowships Application Deadline: 2 May, 2005. Source: CIVICUS Newsletter No 247 MISA South Africa has moved offices Their new contact details are: 11th Floor, Noswall House 5 Stiemert Street, Braamfontein T: +27 11 339 6767 F: +27 11 339 9888 Gender justice barometerBeijing +10 Africa made its mark at the Beijing +10 Review from 1-10 March 2005. In addition to the daily print newspaper that was produced throughout the review, an innovative multi-media and IT strategy ensured that the discussions and debates from the CSW were taken outside of the conference halls to people all over the world. The three pronged approach included the online cyberdialogues; the production of the daily newspaper in hard copy as well as an electronic online version and three video conferences. The World Bank and UNIFEM provided the infrastructural support for three video conferences which saw participation from partners in Washington, New York, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, South Africa and Kenya. At a glance … · 333 users logged into the chat room during the 7 cyber dialogues. · 28 expert panelists from 18 countries participated in the dialogues. · 262 respondents from 26 countries responded to the poll questions. · 7 editions of the newspaper were published. · 1500 hard copies of each edition were distributed. · 1500 people across the globe received each online edition of the newspaper via list serves. A full report on the cyber dialogues will be available on the Gender Links website soon. No women included in Millennium Development Goal envoys Of the four world political leaders appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to help him promote his reform ideas in the period leading up to a high-level General Assembly summit review of the Millennium Declaration in September, not a single one is a woman. This is despite concerns raised during the Beijing +10 Review in March over the lack of sufficient gender specific indicators and targets. Kenyan MP Ruth Oniang’o cautioned that: “The danger is that we are being told to operate within the MDGs when the same goals are lacking in many things.” Discussions during the cyberdialogues that took place during the review pointed to the need for gender to be mainstreamed throughout the MDGs and participants called for women and gender organisations to engage with the MDGs in the run up to the Summit in September. The four envoys will help the Secretary-General promote the agenda put forward last month in his report” “In larger freedom: towards development, security and human rights for all,” which outlines an agenda for action to be taken by the international community to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Source: femLINKpacific:Media Initiatives for Women Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa Five more countries are needed to ratify the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa before it enters into force. To date 33 out of the 53 member states of the African Union have signed the Protocol out of which only nine have ratified – Comoros, Libya, Lesotho, Mali, Djibouti, Senegal, South Africa, Rwanda and Namibia. Oxfam Great Britain has conducted a policy research on the AU Women’s Protocol in three countries (Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia). The policy research examined women’s rights in relation to Violence Against Women, Governance, and sexual and reproductive health rights. The aim is to use the findings to strengthen the ongoing popularisation, mobilisation and lobbying campaigns around women’s rights in Africa using the provisions of the AU Women’s protocol. For more information on the research contact Ayanda Mvimbi at Amvimbi@oxfam.org.uk Time running out to meet SADC 30 percent target The upcoming local government elections in Lesotho and general elections in Mauritius present the two countries with a window of opportunity to meet the SADC 30 percent women’s representation target before the end of the year. Lesotho missed the opportunity during its 2002 general elections. As the country prepares for local government elections at the end of April, the Lesotho News Agency has recently reported that despite women efforts to encourage women’s participation in the local government elections including the reservation of electoral divisions, more men than women appear to be showing interest in participating in the elections. On the second day of nominations (which took place from 29 March to 1 April) in nine of the 13 divisions within the Maseru Municipal Council (MCC) the ratio of was higher than that of women. However, at least eight women had been nominated as candidates in two of the four electoral divisions reserved for women: Ha Tšosane and Stadium Area, according to IEC returning officers. While the Lesotho government has attempted to make amends through reservation of electoral divisions, the situation in Mauritius is critical – especially as the country has the lowest representation in the region at 5.7 percent! In Mauritius women took to the streets on March 27 to demand that more women be represented in Parliament. Former President of the Republic, Cassam Uteem spoke to the group at the beginning of the peaceful demonstration said: “I have always said that real democracy means having more women in Parliament… All political parties must reorganise their structures to make more space for women.” In the midst of a heavy police presence gender activists distributed pamphlets and collected signatures for a petition which called for: one woman in each constituency, respect for the SADC commitment for the 2005 elections, no communal / ethnic lobby in politics, and end to corruption and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. 2005 also marks the 25th anniversary of the SADC, only time will tell if it will be an anniversary that women politicians in Lesotho and Mauritius will want to celebrate. By Tom Mapesela and Loga Virahsawmy Network NewsLesotho A week-long workshop on gender, media and the local government in Lesotho culminated in a meeting between a delegation led by the Lesotho Non-Governmental Organisations (LCN) and the Lesotho Minister of Local Government ’Matumelo Pontšo Susan Sekatle to present the NGO movement’s concern over the 30 percent quota reservation for women. GEMSA Chair, Colleen Lowe Morna and Treasurer, Tom Mapesela, who is also the MISA Lesotho Information and Research Officer, were part of the delegation. The minister said the intention of the quota reservation was not to discriminate against men, but an affirmative action aimed at facilitating the process towards giving women equal opportunities to participate in decision-makings. This position she said, conformed to Section 26 sub-section 2 of the Constitution of Lesotho which indicates that the: “…state shall take appropriate measures in order to promote equality of opportunity for the disadvantaged groups in the society to enable them to participate fully in all spheres of public life.” By Tom Mapesela Read the full article Mauritius Media Watch Organisation’s (MWO) annual general meeting witnessed the election of the executive committee. Loga Virahsawmy remains the president of MWO while Marie Annick Savripene has been elected as vice president, Lovania Pertaub as secretary and Myriam Narainsamy as treasurer. Virahsawmy presented MWO’s activity report for 2004 at the AGM. Click here to read the full report. Implementing its plan of action for 2005 (click here to view POA) MWO is planning to announce the winners of the award for the best gender sensitive article in 2004 on World Press Freedom Day. MWO has been going full steam ahead this year. As part of a series of workshops on gender, media and elections in Mauritius from 14-18 February organised by MWO women politicians have been provided with skills on how to work with the media. The workshops have stirred debate and media coverage on political parties’ position on women’s representation. All the workshops were facilitated by Gender Links MWO. A one-day workshop on gender elections and the media focused on key gender issues in the upcoming Mauritian general elections, past media coverage of gender issues and new story ideas. A key feature of the workshop was the presentations made by political parties on their position in terms of women’s under-representation in political life. Click here to read the full report. (By Loga Virahsawmy) Mozambique Working from space provided by MISA Mozambique the GEMSA Mozambique chapter now has 20 members from various NGOs in the country. The network is in the process of establishing a county level board and is planning to ask the Mozambique First Lady Maria da Luz to become their patron. For the first time since Mozambique’s Independence in 1975, two provinces in the country have women governors/premiers. Of the 160 FRELIMO members of parliament, 65 are women; while 18 of the 90 RENAMO members of parliament are women. By Marciano Mubai South Africa The South African chapter of GEMSA (SAGEM) has had a busy year. In addition to hosting an event in collaboration with the City of Joburg to mark International Women’s Day which had local government councillors making their voices heard during the Beijing +10 Review through the cyber dialogues, SAGEM has also launched a consumer campaign against a sexist advert and is developing a position paper on key issues in the media sector in South Africa for the South African National NGO Coalition. SAGEM has developed a plan of action for 2005 which includes amongst other activities, issuing alerts; conducting a gender audit of media houses’ policies which will link to GEMSA’s regional project; and to engage with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) on the local government elections in South Africa. At their March meeting, SAGEM resolved to work to build and strengthen relationships with media houses by setting up meetings at which SAGEM can share its work with media practitioners and decision-makers. Read the minutes of the meeting. Zambia The Zambia Institute of Mass Communication, an institutional member of GEMSA participated in the Beijing +10 cyber dialogues and video conference. A core of ZAMCOM’s journalism students took a keen interest in the debates that took place |
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