Collecting, connecting, collaborating
The Gender and Media Diversity Centre is a physical and virtual resource centre that aims to create and disseminate knowledge on gender, media and diversity. The centre collects information, connects people with relevant information and promotes collaborative projects between partners. Gender Links (GL) manages the GMDC working in close collaboration with an advisory group drawn from the membership. The centre is run by an advisory group that meets twice a year.
The Centre has re-positioned itself as a coalition of institutions of higher learning offering journalism and media training. GL is working with the Southern African Broadcasting Association (SABA) and the GMDC, to “connect, collect and collaborate” on key gender, media and diversity issues in the Southern African Development Community on a Gender and Media Summit in August. Together they partnered in August 2016 to launch the Southern Africa arm of the Global Alliance on Media and Gender (GAMAG) during the 5th Gender and Media Summit and Awards
Only members who have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the GMDC are eligible to sit on the advisory group. The centre is run by an advisory group that meets twice a year.
The Centre aims to create a diverse, responsive media and critical citizenry that is able to hold the media accountable. The GMDC does this through three strategies: knowledge creation and dissemination; investing in future media producers and through public debates on issues of gender, media and diversity issues. The GMDC facilitates dialogue and resource sharing through its CoP.
Since the establishment of the GMDC in 2007, the institution has conducted seminars on gender and diversity in SADC including gender and leadership debates in the run-up to elections in seven SADC countries. The GMDC has also worked to empower citizens to engage critically with the media through its Media Literacy training programme. The institution has also extended this programme to Journalism and Media training institutions.
UNESCO first approached GL regarding the feasibility of establishing a centre that could be a source of information and thinking in the region, as well as internationally in 2005. UNESCO views Gender Links, with its pioneering work in gender and media in Southern Africa as a leader in gender and media issues in the region and beyond.
The GMDC creates and disseminates knowledge through the:
Click here for an overview of programme work in the latest 2016 annual report.
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Investing in the future:
Working with institutions of higher learning the GMDC coordinates the Centres of Excellence for Gender in Media Education (GIME), which seeks to bridge the gap between gender mainstreaming in media practice and content and journalism training. |
| The GMDC holds regular seminars on gender, media and diversity. Seminar topics have included gender and transformative leadership; gender and Soccer 2010; gender media freedom and access to information. Through the media literacy programme, the centre equips citizens with skills to actively engage with the media |
