GMDC Advisory Group meeting

On 12 October the GMDC hosted our bi-annual Advisory Group Meeting. The theme of the meeting was “Taking stock of the GMDCÀ and was intended to assess how well the GMDC is meeting the benchmarks previously laid out. Eighteen existing and potential members took part, comprising media educators, media professionals, activists and independent researchers.

Kathy Matsika of Zimbabwe’s National University of Science and Technology (NUST),   and GMDC Chair, facilitated the meeting which began with the adoption of the 23 March Advisory Group minutes and was followed by a presentation of the GMDC progress report. Key questions were raised regarding governance, physical resources, training and virtual resources of the GMDC. The participation of the GMDC in the 55th Commission on the Status of Women conference was also canvassed.

Key points included:

• Many new members are interested in formal MOUs.
• Fewer, more targeted and solid partnerships would be the best asset to the GMDC, and all formal partners will have a seat on the board.
• The Gender Links Experiential Learning Programme can only be available to those institutions with MOUs.
• Not all members receive the GMDC Diversity Exchange E-Newsletter.
• The GMDC should check with partners’ libraries to assess if GL materials are there. If they are there, the GMDC should obtain a list of lecturers’ emails, and send an email to lecturers so they know the books are in the library.
• The GMDC should participate in the upcoming SCANUL-ECS (University Librarians Conference) in Botswana.
• An editorial board was created for the Journal, comprising Bernadette Killian, Francis Chikunichuzeni, Eno Akpabio and Jennifer Elle Lewis.
• The Mirror on the Media series could be developed into a package for trainers.
• The VRC should be used by trainers as part of their lesson plans.
• Student thesis can only be obtained if the rights to the work are with the student.
• Media literacy should be an aspect of all GMDC seminars.
• The GIME audit could potentially be presented in a parallel session at the 55th CSW.

To read minutes of this meeting, click here.