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 on Monday.
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 on 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 a advantageous 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 positions in media so as to strengthen their image in the community.
Mandeeq Hussein Ibrahim, a female journalist working with 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 complex cultures.
After tea break, an open questions session was held where the directors and the female journalists had heated debate on the items of the declaration.
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