Five Somali Television headquartered in Nairobi has appointed and promoted a female journalist, Foos Ibrahim Hussein as the editor in chief following deliberations by the management.
Since joining the media in 2015, Hussein has gained a wealth of experience from working with different TV stations: Royal TV, STN TV and five Somali TV that she is working with currently.
Foos Hussein who was born in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia completed her primary education in Mogadishu and took her studies of secondary and college in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Foos has a degree in mass communication and she is among over ten female journalists who work with Five Somali Television.
“I joined the media while in high school, it was my passion and dream that one day I will be a famous journalist who informs and entertains her people. Today, I think I have achieved that dream”
As the chief editor of the TV, Foos manages, supervises and edits the work of all reporters in Nairobi, the headquarters of the TV and the other stations across Horn of Africa.
“I am now fully encouraged and believe that the promotion is due of my knowledge and hardwork. It is my sincere hope that I can perform the duties of the new job effectively and do whatever my male counterparts do with ease as opposed to what the community believes” said Foos.
“This is a clear indication that female journalists have full capacity to occupy and hold top positions in media if given opportunity to express themselves, thus, Equality in workplace promotes innovation and professionalism”
Foos believes that her new responsibility can be executed easily through teamwork and understanding among the workmates in the workplace.
“It is my responsibility to lead this position well but each and every one of us is responsible and has a part to play, I believe this can lead us to jointly overcome the obstacles that might affect our performance of the job”
Foos confirms that the number of women journalists joining the media has improved due to the increased awareness of the community but she underlined that there many challenges which impede effective gender equality in workplace.
“The number of female journalists in Nairobi are low compared to Somalia since there are few Somali media outlet in Kenyan capital and major the towns” Foos says.
Fuad Haji Abdiweli, the director the Nairobi-headquartered Five Somali Television highlights that the number of women journalists in the media has increased in the last two years after the community and media leaders became equally aware of female journalists’ role. Fuad stressed that the appointment of editor in chief is based on merit.
“We have appointed Foos to lead this demanding position that is important for the smooth running of the TV after we got contented with her competence, dedication andexperience. She even deserves a higher position” the director says.
“The gender of the person being hired or promoted is not important to us, we put more emphasis on whether the person (female or male) is able to perform the job. We give special consideration to female journalists based on their unique circumstances” underlined Fuad.
The director urged the female journalists to redouble their efforts and rely on their skills so that theyare not left behind.
“Gender equality starts from the female journalists, if they display their talent and efficiency the directors have no otherwise than giving them what they deserve”
Five Somali TV was not among Somali media stations that signed the gender declaration in 2018, but the management is making efforts to empower of female journalists.
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