20 people comprising of media directors, editors and female journalists attended one day round table discussion on gender declaration held in Dhusa-mareeb town, the administrative capital of Galmudug state in Central Somalia.47 media houses across Somalia signed the gender declaration respect.
The meeting which was organized by Somali Women Journalists Organization (SWJO) in collaboration with IMS-FOJO was aimed to evaluate the progress registered in realizing the elements of gender declaration signed by the media houses in 2018.
Galmudug information minister, Abdirahman Naleye who opened the meeting said the declaration is an important instrument that will protect the rights of the female journalists in media sector. He advised the media directors to implement the declaration so as to put to an end the inequality in workplace.
Amina Ahmed Ali, a representative of SWJO who facilitated the meeting welcomed the participants to the meeting and gave brief explanations about the purpose of the roundtable discussion. Ali described the event as a follow up of the gender declaration aimed to know what the media houses have implemented, what they have not and the challenges they faced since they signed the declaration two years ago.
To re-engage the participants’ interest on gender declaration, Amina has conducted a brief presentation elaborating the principles of the document.
Abdikadir Gure, the director of radio Galgaduud who spoke on behalf of the director during the opening of the meeting said that gender declaration has decreased the myths and stereotypes surrounding gender inequality in workplaces. Gure added that the media houses are now focused and ready to reap the benefits of gender equality.
Run Mohamed Osman, a female working with radio Dhusa-mareeb highlighted that the declaration is a means of eliminating the sexual harassment and violence against female journalists expressing hope that it will boost the roles of women in media.
After tea break, an open discussion and comments session was held for the participants of the meeting to deliberate on the Gender Declaration and provide feedback to what was implemented, what they fall short and the challenges faced since signing the declaration. Some of the key points highlighted during the meeting include the following:
- Training and Development:The directors who attended the round table discussions stressed the need of providing of equal opportunities to all employees in the workplace. Three directors, Abdikadir Gure, the director of Galgadud radio, Mohamed Yussuf Mohamud, radio Adado and Mohamed Abdi Mohamed who all agreed on the importance equal opportunities in workplace described it as a powerful step of preventing discrimination, harassment and victimization. Gure highlighted his station has given equal opportunities to all employees in workplace adding that it made the employees productive and creative. Gure said a female journalist, Dhux Ali Adan who gained invaluable skills from the equal training and development is now a senior producer who produces and presents a program for BBC media action. He also praised Dhux as the longest serving head of programs at Galgadud radio. However, Hamdi Ali Diriye reported a number of persistent challenges the female journalists in the region face. Diriye stated that most of the female journalists never get enough training to execute their duties effectively and added that the few that persevere the challenges have no equipment especially those working with TV stations.
- Sexual Harassment and Violence: Most of the directors said they took reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment occurring and confirmed that they created policies and procedures designed to create a harassment-free environment. Ahmed Mohamed Timacade, the director of planning of Galmudug ministry of information and Abdikadir Gure, the director of radio Galgadud both underlined that they set procedures to deal with allegations of harassment and violation against female journalists in workplace. Gure also added that they followed up the implementation and effectiveness of the procedures through provision of ongoing training and communication. Eliminating any form of harassment, the director highlighted that it must begin with leadership from the very top of an organization to make clear that such conduct is neither tolerated nor acceptable.
- Educational Advancement and Professional Development: The directors consider professional development and educational advancement as one of the best practices to garner the most from the career activities of employees. Ahmed Mohamed Tima Cadde, the director of planning of Galmudug ministry of information said empowering of women through skills and workforce development is one of their priorities. Tima Cadde said the ministry has allocated one day (a working day) for female journalists to study and build their capacity. The director further said the skills development enabled two women to land at a higher position in the ministry. Out of the five departments of the ministry, two are led by women- thanks to the skills development and the encouragement by the ministry. Similarly, Abdullahi Mohamed and Abdikadir Gure, the deputy director of radio Dhusa-mareeb and director of radio Galgadud respectively echoed the sentiment of Tima Cadde stressing that the educated women among the workforce will eliminate gender disparity in the workplace. Gure said the outstanding performance of Dhux Ali Hashi, a senior producer at radio Galgadud is attributed to skills development and the flexible work time table given to the employees by the management. He underlined that his station will continue with that decision so as to build skills and expertise of the female journalists. Run Mohamed Osman, a newscaster at radio Galgadud confirmed that she was given ample time and shift to be able to study and work. She says ‘I am now able to balance my job and studies’.
- Gender Desk: To ensure female journalists feel happy to report cases of sexual harassment and violence against them without fear, two directors established gender departments dealing with gender issues and nominated women to lead those departments. The two directors stated that establishment of the departments has encouraged reporting of illegal behaviours. One female journalist, Hamdi Diriye Ali, a correspondent of Kalsan TV in Dhusa-mareeb said the gender departments in various workstations have somewhat restored the confidence of women reporting violations adding that it will be a breakthrough of promoting women’s rights.
- Promotion: The director of Galgadud radio, Abdikadir Gure describedpromotion is a way to adding more responsibilities to employeesin a bid to boost their motivation and morale. The director said the management has promoted a female journalist, Dhux Ali Aden as the head of programs who oversees the departmental operations and advices the management of all the programs of the radio. generally, the other directors have not taken tangible steps to promote female journalists making it one of points that was least implemented by the directors across the region.
Gaps
- Separate Toilets, Prayer Room, Ablution, Dressing Room: Provision of separate toilets, prayer room, dressing room is one of the areas that was least addressed by the media houses in Dhus-mareeb. Only one director, Abdikadir confirmed to have created separate toilets for the women journalists working the station despite operating in a rented house. The remaining directors said they face circumstances that does not allow them to create special places at the moment for women in their workstations.
- Equal Pay at Work:There is a pay gap in the different media houses as evident from the sentiments of the directors who attended the round table discussions. The media houses have no pay system which sets out procedures that ensures a pay system that is efficient and equitable.Most of the directors confirmed that they have no standard salary scale for paying the employees. All of the female journalists who were promoted by the different media houses have not received salary increase even when they take new roles and workloads.
- Gender Sensitivity Trainings: Gender sensitivity training is one of the areas of the declaration that had impact and was least implemented. No media station that has ever conducted gender sensitization training in the workplace. Seemingly, the directors are not aware of the importance of this training for their media outlets.
- Adequate Leave (maternity, sick and annual leave): Leave was one of the issues least debated by the participants of the roundtable discussions. None of the directors in attendance have leave policies in place. Most of the directors have confirmed that they have not yet fully implemented leave policy in their work stations but planning to grant various leaves to their employees.
Analysis
The implementation of gender declaration by media houses has not yet reached the required level but there are extraordinary preliminary achievements that we can be proud of.
It seems that the directors and media owners are now aware of the challenges posed by inequality in workplace when it comes salary, promotion, recruitment etc are as a result of complex cultures driven by stereotypes and lack of knowledge in the male dominated media sector.
To address the challenges of gender disparity in workplace, it needs the commitment of the directors and media owners and strong advocacy campaigns aimed to build the skills of all stakeholders in a bid to build an equitable work environment.
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