Eastern African Media Said Need More Focus On Gender Issues

[Jacaylbaro]

Media will not grow unless they give serious attention to gender issues, said Secretary General of Eastern African Journalists Association, Omar Faruk on the first regional conference on gender held from 27-29 October, 2008 at the Sudanese Journalist's Union (SJU) in Khartoum.

 

On the conference, a study by the East African Journalist's Association (EAJA) equal reporting by the media in Eastern Africa was presented and discussed over by participants. It focused on the concepts of sex and gender, gender equality, and mainstreaming in East African countries namely Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somali, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.

 

According to the study, women's issues are underreported by the East African media. Male journalists are not interested in covering general issues and do not take gender issues seriously. This study found out that the media in Ethiopia display more flexibility with woman journalists than they do with male ones, consider cultural difficulties with regard to women giving more hours in evening and weekend.

 

Moreover, the research shows that women journalists in Ethiopia are usually associated with what are termed as "Soft stories" that include topics like life style, fashion, shopping, HIV/AIDS rather than hard news like politics.

 

On the three-day workshop the participants from eight countries issued a declaration endorsing action programs on achieving gender equality in Eastern Africa media.

 

President Umar Hassan AlBahsir of the Republic of Sudan welcomed the participants at his palace and promised the journalists that the government will work for the advancement of the media in Sudan and the region.

 

 

Rose Mestika

Khartoum