23 journalists from the different media houses in the port city of Kismayo, the administrative capital of Jubbaland converged to attend a round table discussion. 47 media houses across Somalia signed the declaration respect.
Somali Women Journalists Organization (SWJO) organized and held a round table meeting so as to follow up and evaluate the implementation of gender declaration signed by the media houses in Somalia in 2018.
The participants of the meeting, media directors, and female journalists discussed in detail the successes reached, the challenges faced and the way forward since the media houses penned the declaration.
Ms. Nasrin Mohamed Ibrahim, the deputy Chair-person of SWJO who welcomed the participants gave brief explanations about the purpose of the roundtable meeting 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.
Nasrin also conducted a complete presentation about the guiding principles of Gender Declaration. The presentation which was exhaustive and covered all the general topics highlighted in the declaration was found interesting by most of the participants.
The director general of Jubbaland ministry of information, Abdishukri Arab who opened the round table discussion welcomed the follow up of the gender declaration signed by the media houses. Arab challenged the media houses to implement the declaration fully so as to create ahelpful environment in workplaces.
Jama’a Ahmed Ali Joofane, the deputy director of Jubbaland TV who spoke on behalf of the directors stated that the female journalists have an important role to play in advocating for the rights of the voiceless people in the community. He urged the directors to give the female journalists decision-making roles in media so as to strengthen their image in the community.
Mandeeq Hussein Ibrahim, the deputy director of Star FM said the big gender gap in media is attributed to bad stereotypes that are used to discriminate against women. Ibrahim stressed that the declaration has brought tangible changes in the protection of women rights but stated that there are many factors that need to be addressed to change the complex cultures.
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:
- Gender Equitable Recruitment: Taking affirmatives actions of recruiting more female journalists was one of the points that was highly debated by the media houses during the round table discussions. To promote gender equality in workplace during recruitment, the director of Wamo radio, a newly established community radio, Sayid Shukri Aden and the deputy director of Jubbaland TV, Jama’a Mohamed Ali both highlighted that they normally advertise jobs vacancies so as to inform the potential candidates (male and female) in an engaging tone that contains the required information. The directors underlined that they place job advertisement that appeals to the person with the right education and experience without discrimination. Jama’a says ‘The main purpose of an advertisement is to attract candidates for an open position. Mandeq Hussein Ibrahim, the deputy director of star FM said the past two years the administration has recruited 3 female journalists who benefited from internship programs provided by the media station. She stressed that the female journalists were given actual job offer after they showed the competence.
- Training and Development: Most of the directors stated that they have created a diverse and equal opportunity workplace in their respective media houses free from discrimination of all sorts. Abdullahi Ahmed Husni, the deputy director of radio Kismayo says by encouraging and strengthening learning and development initiatives in workplace, the administration gives male and female journalists equal access to the available training in a bid to improve the skills and know-how of the employees. He added that inclusive training has resulted in behavior change and productivity. Three other directors Sayid Shukri Aden, Wamo radio, Abdirizak Abdullahi Hussein, Kalsan TV and Mandeq Hussein Ibrahim of Star FM all underlined that they offered professional development to allstaff in their organizations no matter their role through on-the-job, mentoring or coaching, and through training.
- Sexual Harassment and Violence: All the media directors in attendance stated that they regard the sexual harassment and violence against all employees especially women journalists as crime against the law. Most of the directors confirmed they have by-laws to address the sexual harassment and violence against female journalists in workplace. Four directors confirmed thatthey have conducted training to the staffthat helps to safeguard against unsuitable behavior and unwanted advances by clearly defining violations, adding that it also empowers those who may encounter violation and to report these cases to managementeasily. The directors also underlined thatthe organizational policies have zero tolerance towards sexual harassment.Sayid Shukri Aden of Wamo radio believes that sexual harassment training provides managers with a standard to which they can refer when a sexual harassment complaint is made by an employee andenables them [the managers] feel confident to know which behaviors are improper and provide a timely and in-depth response as dictated by company policy.
- Educational Advancement and Professional Development: The directors consider professional development and educational advancement as one of the best practices to harvest the most from the career activities of employees. They stressed how important it is to place employees’ professional development at the heart of company policy. Mandeq Hussein Ibrahim, the deputy director of star FM says ‘I encourage my staff to pursue relevant courses and workshops that will further their career advancement’. Similarly, two other directors said they help their workers find time to do their jobs, attend to their personal demands, and even engage in professional development activities that can aid their career advancement. Hafsa Dahir, a freelance journalist said her former employer, Kismayo radio has created a special time for her to study which she described a breakthroughin her life.
- Promotion: Since signing the declaration in 2018, media directors have confirmed that they have promoted female journalists following their commitment and hard work. They highlighted that promotion asthe best way to add responsibilities to an employee is a major form of boosting employee motivation and morale. Abdullahi Ahmed Husni confirmed the management has appointed Maryan Magan Hussein as the head of programs of radio through merit adding that one of the most important benefits of employee promotion is that it helps the company recognize and acknowledge the performance and hard work of your employees and thus makes them feel valued. On her side, Magan who was in attendance during the round table discussions confirmed that the management of her media station appointed as the head of programs unexpectedly while attending weekly meeting. The deputy director of Jubbaland TV, Jama’a Ahmed Ali confirmed that the administration has promoted 2 female journalists with salary increase the past two years. Ali also confirmed that the TV normally promotes the hardworking employees during the celebration of the television’s anniversaries, he added that they have plans to promote a number of staff including female journalists during the 5th anniversary of the TV.
Gaps
Adequate Leave (maternity, sick and annual leave): Leave was one of the issues debated by the participants of the roundtable discussions. Only one director, Sayid Shukri of Wamo radio confirmed that his workplace has developed leave policy which specify the entitlement of the workers especially female journalists to various leaves like annual, sick and maternity leave. The rest of the directors have no policies in place and grant the employees leaves haphazardly without proper plans. Khadar Iman Dhaqane,a member of Jubbalandindependent journalists association unveiled that the media houses in Jubbaland have not enforced leaves-especially maternity leave as required. Hassan said that some media houses normally give one-monthmaternity leave to female journalists when they give birth adding that they risk losing their jobs if they don’t report to work immediately after their leave ends.
- Gender Desk: The media houses in Kismayo have fell short of creating gender departments lead by women where female journalists can easilyreport the complaints of sexual harassment and violence against them without fear. Most of the directors are not aware of the importance of gender departments in workplace, therefore this might diminish the confidence of female journalists reporting cases of sexual harassment and violence at workstations.
- 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 Kismayo. The directors said they face circumstances that does not allow them to create special places at the moment for women in their workstations.Najmo Sheikh Abdirahman, SWJO representative in Jubbaland confirmed that provision of separate toilets, dressing and nursing rooms is one of the areas where the media houses failed to implement properly despite signing gender declaration.
- Equal Pay at Work:There is a pay gap in the different media houses in Kismayo as evident from the discussions of the directors who attended the round table discussions. Only the director radio Wamo, Sayid Shukri says ‘employees take equal pay for substantially the same kind of work. theother directors confirmed that they have no standard salary scale for paying the employees.Most of the promoted female journalists by the different media houses have not received salary increase even when they take new roles and workloads.
Analysis
The media houses in Kismayo have made significant commitment in implementation of gender declaration principles that empower female journalists.
The female journalists and the female directors who attended the round table discussion have a notion that the declaration is a new dawn that is gradually growing towards equitable workstations having solved a number of challenges that were facing the women in the male dominated media. This optimism expressed by the women in media speaks loud that the declaration has had significant impact on the tradition media.
Going forward, to create a conducive environment in media houses where male and female journalists can work freely, get equal rights, we have to sustain firmly the unsteady successes gained so far and make efforts to cover or rather reduce gaps in the sector which impede successful creation of equitable workplace.
All the comments from the media owners and directors have shown their intention to address the challenges facing the female journalists in Somali media industry but that does not mean to guarantee that everything will be fixed in short time.
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