GEMSA Newsletter May 2005

Dear friends and members …
With your support, GEMSA continues to grow from strength to strength.

Network manager
Earlier this month we appointed the GEMSA Network Manager, Janet Karim from Malawi. Janet brings a wealth of experience as a former newspaper owner and editor; activist in media women’s organisations, and in posts held with Oxfam and the UNDP. Welcome Janet!

Country action plans
The GEMSA Executive and Steering Committee met on 5 May to review progress and plan for up coming activities. Country representatives presented their action plans and fund raising initiatives. Click here to read minutes of the meeting.

Membership
Membership of the network continues to grow. Country chapters are forging ahead with membership drives to encourage organisations and individuals to join the network. As of May 2005 GEMSA has 83 individual members and seven institutional members

Sub committees
Two sub-committees have been established – a monitoring committee, chaired by William Bird of the MMP, and a trainers’ committee chaired by Emily Brown of the Polytechnic of Namibia. We look forward to strengthening these important aspects of our work.

GEMSA Plan of Action
All GEMSA country chapters took part in the Global Media Monitoring Project in February. We will work with the MMP to derive from this a Southern Africa report which will be used as a benchmark against the Gender and Media Baseline Study.

The desktop research for the policy leg of the Media Action Plan on HIV/AIDS and Gender that is being led by GEMSA and GL, under the overall coordination of the Southern African Editors Forum is currently underway (see below).

The gender audit of media legislation is in full swing, and will lead to a tool kit on how to lobby for more gender sensitive laws.

GEMSA country representatives took part in an IT training session organised by Gender Links on 3-4 May 2005. The training is part of a regional project encouraging the use of ICTs for advocacy and networking that Gender Links is undertaking in partnership with GEMSA chapters in individual countries (see below).

Several GEMSA members will be involved in the second phase of the Gender and Media Audience Research in partnership with Gender Links and media training institutions in seven countries (see below).

GEMSA is also centrally involved in the initiative to take stock of progress in SADC towards achieving the objectives of the Declaration on Gender and Development ahead of the Heads of State Summit in 2005.

We hope that you will support the GEMSA Network Manager in her efforts towards growing the network. She will be in touch with you all soon.
Till next time
Colleen, Emmanuel, Pat, Tom and Jennifer.

Alerts
Media freedom violated during Lesotho elections
A dismally low voter turnout and the violation of the media’s right to cover the elections marred the first local government elections in Lesotho in April. In Mohalalitoe a village in eastern Maseru, journalists were prevented from interviewing voters, IEC officials and political party representatives. They were also not allowed to take photographs.

Also at Mohalalitoe, government officials forced GEMSA Secretary and MISA Lesotho Information and Research officer Tom Mapesela to delete photographs he had taken with a digital camera. State, private and international media were all subjected to the same treatment.

Only after various complaints and reports to Radio Lesotho – that aired a live phone-in programme on the elections – did the Lesotho IEC Communications Officer, Rethabile Pholo clarify that IEC officials, the police or any other official at polling stations should not prevent the media from carrying out its duties.

Victory against sexist advert followed by new challenges
In a victory for gender and media activists, the sexist advert in Mauritius, depicting a woman’s breasts with the words “If only these were brains” has been removed. Media Watch Organisation, the group that launched the campaign against the advert, has congratulated the Sex Discrimination Division in Mauritius for its prompt action.

However Loga Virahsawmy, President of Media Watch Organisation, has raised alarm bells over another advert in Mauritius for a particular brand of water depicting a semi-nude woman with the words “power of purity.” Read Virahsawmy’s article.

Free media also means freedom from sexual harassment
As the world celebrated World Press Freedom Day, the Media Institute of Southern African (MISA) launched “So is this democracy?” its annual report card for media freedom in the region. Zoe Titus, from MISA’s Media Freedom Monitoring Project argues that in addition to the more obvious violations of media freedom, sexual harassment in newsrooms is a major violation of the rights of female journalists. “… if the public does not have access to that information, then we can cease our discussions about media freedom being a prerequisite for good, just governance and sustainable development,” says Titus. Read the full article.

Breakthroughs!

GEMSA Trainer’s Network
GEMSA launched a Trainer’s Network (GTN) in early May to provide a way for trainers in Southern Africa to collaborate in mainstreaming gender in their work. Participants from six countries in the region attended the meeting at which a Programme of Action for the GTN was drawn up. This drew from the three year Polytechnic of Namibia and Gender Links pilot project to mainstream gender in the media.

An important feature of the GTN is the use of ICTs to facilitate discussion and support members. Monthly online discussions have been planned using the Gender Links website chat facility. Another unique aspect of the GTN is the use of and contributions to the Gender Links Virtual Resource Centre for trainers thereby increasing the pool and impact of local material available for training.

A meeting of media educators will be held in the last quarter of 2005 to evaluate the GTN process, to look at plans for 2005, to present best practices and discuss challenges.
The full report on the GTN meeting, as well as the programme of action will be available on the Gender Links website soon. For more information contact Emily Brown at ebrown@polytechnic.edu.na

SADC Gender Unit ups the gender stakes
Thanks to pressure from civil society organisations including GEMSA (see gender justice barometer below) the SADC Gender Unit is putting two key recommendations to Heads of State at their meeting in August 2005:
• The target of 30 percent women in all areas of decision-making by 2005 be raised to 50 percent in line with the African Union.
• The SADC Declaration on Gender and Development be elevated to a Protocol.
Please keep up the pressure in all your countries!!!

Gender justice barometer

SADC and Gender 2005
GEMSA has played a central role in plans for a stock taking exercise on progress towards achieving the objectives of the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development. Last year GEMSA produced an audit of gender justice reforms in SADC countries; GEMSA members in countries having elections have tracked progress towards the achievement of the 30 percent target for women in decision making; and the network played an active role in the cyber dialogues on various themes during the ten year review of Beijing Plus Ten.

Bringing all this into sharp focus for the leaders of our countries, GEMSA is collaborating with the SADC Gender Unit, SADC Parliamentary Forum, CREDO, Women in Politics Support Unit, SAFAIDS, WILDAF, Gender Links and MISA in an important advocacy campaign leading up to the Heads of State Summit in August. The steps envisaged include:
• A presentation to the Regional Women’s Parliamentary Caucus at a meeting in Swaziland on 30 May in collaboration with WILDAF including suggested action points for women parliamentarians.
• Lobbying at a meeting of officials preparing for the SADC Heads of State summit at a meeting in Lesotho in June.
• A stock taking round table, to be organised by the SADC Parliamentary Forum and gender unit, with support from IDEAS in Sweden and CREDO in the UK, to prepare a position paper and campaign for the Heads of State Summit.
• Lobbying and advocacy at the SADC Heads of State Summit in Botswana in August by a civil society delegation. This will form part of a broader initiative, spearheaded by MISA, to have civil society participation at SADC gatherings institutionalised, starting with the Heads of State summit in August.

Mirror on the media
Radio talk shows will come under the spotlight as GEMSA chapters in Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe undertake media monitoring of this genre. The monitoring is an extension of the Mirror on the Media project that has until now, taken place in Mauritius, South Africa and Swaziland and focused specifically on news coverage.

Radio talk shows offer citizens the opportunity to participate in public life and also have the potential to mobilise public opinion on critical issues of the day. However, research has shown that women are more often interrupted than men; men are invited more often than women as guests on talk shows and women guests are addressed in a more familiar and casual way than male guests.

Among other objectives, the monitoring attempts to determine who speaks on which topics; to establish the extent to which women and men’s voices are included in radio talk shows as well as to determine the role of radio talk show hosts and how they perpetuate or challenge gender stereotypes.

For more information contact Susan Tolmay at susan@genderlinks.org.zawho will put you in touch with the monitors in your country.

Gender and HIV/AIDS Policies in newsrooms

As reported previously, GEMSA and Gender Links are the lead agencies for the HIV/AIDS and Gender Policy sub-sector for the Media Action Plan. The first phase of the project ie desk top research to establish what HIV/AIDS and /or gender policies are already in place, with the purpose to gather existing resources and materials is currently underway.

The research in Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho, Zambia, Botswana and Swaziland is complete. So far Zambia has the highest number of both HIV/AIDS and gender policies, followed by Namibia, Botswana and Malawi. Swaziland and Lesotho have neither of the policies. The study has revealed, so far, that, unlike policies on gender, more media houses have, are working on or are willing to adopt an HIV/AIDS policy.

A handbook for developing policies is being drawn up. This will be followed by training in-country facilitators and workshops in each country for the roll out of these policies.
For more information contact Agnes Muriungi on info@genderlinks.org.za.

Second phase of Southern Africa audience research kicks off
The launch of the Gender and Media Audience Study (GMAS) on World Press Freedom Day coincided with the beginning of the second phase of the research which is taking place in the remaining seven Southern African countries – Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The findings of the second phase of the research will be available at the end of 2005.

“The study is not only ground breaking in so far as it is the first to explore the differences in the way that women and men respond to the news,” said Gender Links Executive Director Colleen Lowe Morna. “As far as we are aware, it is the first Southern African study of any kind to gauge what audiences like and dislike and what they would like to see more and less of in the news. On a day when we celebrate press freedom this should prompt us to ask: freedom to do what, why and for whom.” Read more

The audience research will be launched in the countries in which this research has already taken place as follows:
Namibia: 26 May
Mauritius: 13 June 2005
Botswana: 20 June 2005
Swaziland: 4 July 2005
Zambia: 18 July 2005

Contact Kubi Rama (kubi@genderlinks.org.za) or the GEMSA country representative in your country for more information.

Network News

GEMSA country representatives converged in South Africa in the first week of May for a series of meetings related to the GEMSA Plan of Action. From training on using IT for advocacy to the establishment of the Gender Trainers’ Network, to training on monitoring radio talk shows, it was a busy week for GEMSA. In addition to the formal meetings that took place, country representatives also used the opportunity to network and exchange ideas on their work in their countries.

IT training
GEMSA country representatives gave the campaign to “Make IT work for gender justice” a lift when they participated in an IT training workshop to test the kit that will be used in country workshops from June to September. The aim of the IT workshops is to build the capacity of partner institutions and individuals to use IT effectively for advocacy, networking and training.
Dates for country IT training and country representatives:
Namibia: 14-16 June Sarry Xoagus sxoagus@hotmail.com
Mauritius: 14-15 June Loga Virahsawmy gonaz@intnet.mu
Seychelles: 16-17 June Tania Labiche fratania@hotmail.com
Botswana: 21-23 June Kaebonye Ntsabane womens_ngo_coa@info.bw
Swaziland: 5-7 July Phumelele Dlamini phumied@yahoo.com
Zambia: 19-21 July Emmanuel Kasongo ekasongo@coppernet.zm
Lesotho: 1-3 August Tom Mapesela tmapesela@yahoo.co.uk
Malawi: 5-7 September Stella Mhura skaliwo@yahoo.co.uk
Mozambique: 12-14 September Marciano Jose Mubai mmubai@hotmail.com
Angola: 19-21 September Anacleta Pereira nani@netangola.com
Zimbabwe: 26-28 September Loveness Jambaya loveness@mmpz.org.zw

Notice board

2005 African Information Society Initiative (AISI) Media Awards
The awards aim to encourage informed coverage of the information society and Information Communications Technology (ICT) for development issues in Africa. The awards are aimed at individual journalists and media institutions based in Africa that are “promoting journalism which contributes to a better understanding of the information society in Africa”. Deadline: July 31 2005/September 30 2005. For further information, contact Aida Opoku-Mensah (aopoku-mensah@uneca.org) or go to http://www.uneca.org/aisi/mediaaward.htm

Steve Biko Scholarship
The Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ) invites applications for the Steve Biko Scholarship. The scholarships are part of the IAJ’s programme to help develop a democratic culture of vigorous and independent journalism in Africa and to foster a stronger working relationship among African journalists.
Three categories of scholarship are available:

For South African journalists:
• attend a week-long course at the IAJ;
• be seconded to a newsroom either in South Africa or in the region for a week;
• attend courses at other media training institutions in South Africa for a final week.
For external candidates: journalists from countries outside South Africa who will undergo the three-part programme in South Africa as above.

For overseas training: the scheme offers a small contribution to assist candidates in taking up media studies outside South Africa.
Applications and inquiries should be directed to the Executive Secretary, IAJ, 9 Jubilee Road, Parktown, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa. Fax: 011 484-2282; Phone: 011 484-1765; Email: info@iaj.org.za
Closing Date for applications: July

Low-interest loans to support newspapers in developing countries
A new partnership will offer financial assistance to newspapers in developing democracies, helping them to establish a more viable free press. The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) is joining the Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF) to offer the low-interest loans to selected newspaper projects, to help independent papers become financially viable businesses. For more information, contact WAN spokesman Larry Kilman at lkilman@wan.asso.fr, telephone +33 1 47 42 85 00, or visit http://www.wan-press.org/article6897.html
Source: e-CIVICUS No 250

Resources

Toolkit for working with men and boys to prevent gender-based violence
A website, developed by the NGO Family Violence Prevention Fund, is a comprehensive tool kit designed to help you work with men and boys to prevent gender-based violence. It provides readings, case studies, handouts, exercises, and other resources as well as community-building tools. To access the toolkit, go to: http://toolkit.endabuse.org/Home
Source: Manliga Nätverket

Gender and Labour Market Liberalisation in Africa
This report, by the African Labour Research Network (ALRN) examines the liberalisation of the labour market in Africa from a gender perspective. It analyses current economic and labour policies of seven African countries to see their impact on the labour force and the organised labour movement in general, and women in particular. The countries examined are: Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
To access the report, please go to:
http://www.alrn.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=276
(Source: Eldis)

CD-ROM: Strengthened Partnerships among Local FM and Community Radio Networks on HIV/AIDS
This interactive CD-ROM outlines how to use entertainment-education
methodologies to produce radio serial dramas that are culturally sensitive and research-based. The aim is to use this popular medium more effectively to reduce risky behaviour and prevent HIV/AIDS. The information is based on workshops organised by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Population Media Center (PMC). Limited CD copies are available for African radio broadcasters. To receive additional information, including how to access the resource, please go to:
http://www.comminit.com/africa/materials/ma2004/materials-1889.html
(Source: E-civicus)