Media and Information Literacy and women

The aspect of media and information literacy is closely related to access to information. Media literacy provides participants with skills to be able to access information from different mediums, engage with it critically and create information that is relevant to their needs. Gender and media literacy has been one way women and men have challenged media about how they represent women and in a way forced the media to also produce gender-sensitive stories and adverts.

From 15 to 17 June, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in partnership with Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University (Morocco), the Islamic Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO), the Arab Bureau of Education for the Golf States (ABEGS) and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and other partners held the First International Forum on Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in Fez, Morocco. The forum examined media and information literacy as a combined set of key competencies that include knowledge, skills and attitudes.

The project is a result of the blending of two concepts, media literacy and information literacy, to empower audiences to be aware of the functions of media and other information providers, and to be more critical and discriminating in their reception, evaluation and use of information and media.

Dr Musimbi Kanyaro, the current head of Global Fund for Women once said; “Information for what and for whom? Why are we collecting this information and what difference is it making in the lives of women? What do we do with the information once it is collected?” Her argument is that unless the information collected is used for social and economic change to make the lives of women better, we would have failed. But how do we make women effective users of the information transmitted by media and other institutions? This can only happen by empowering them to be information and media literate.

Rosemary Okello, the Executive Director of the African Woman and Child Feature Service attended the conference and presented a case study titled Media and Information Literacy and Women, the Case of Sub Saharan Africa. She argued that in order to address the gender inequalities on the continent, efforts should be made to equip women with skills to access information and services. In addition, women need these skills so that they are able to participate fully in the information society. At the end of the forum, participants adopted a Declaration on Media and Information Literacy which recommends the development of a gender policy to inform the global media and information literacy civic education.

Download : Media and Information Literacy and Women, Rosemary Okello
Download : Declaration on media and information literacy