Round table Discussions on Implementation of Gender Declaration by Media Houses

Somali Women Journalists Organization (SWJO) organized and held a round table meeting to follow up and evaluate the implementation of gender declaration signed by the media houses in Somalia in 2018.

The meeting held at Hotel Afrik in Mogadishu on Tuesday 18 August, was aimed to assess the progress on implementation of the Gender Declaration, it was attended by 38 people comprising of 27 media directors, media associations and 11 female journalists.

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.

Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu, the Secretary General of Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ) thanked SWJO for its continued advocacy for Somali female journalist. Moalimu urged the media houses to realize the principles of the declaration and create a good and conducive work environment where both male and female journalists can enjoy.

Hassan Ali Gesey, the chairman Somali Independent Media Houses Association (SIMHA) and Director of Dalsan Radio,and Ahmed Isse Gutale, the director of Mustaqbal radio stated that they made efforts to implement some of the principles of the declaration they signed. Gesey underlined that they are ready adopt the declaration fully in order to create a work environment free from discrimination and sexual harassment and inequality.

After tea break, an open questions session was held for the participants to discuss the Gender Declaration and provide a feedback on what was implemented and the challenges the media houses faced in the adoption of the declaration since signing the document.

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:

Educational Advancement and Professional Development: Educational advancement by female journalists was one of the key issues discussed during the round table meeting. 12 media directorsout of 27 who were in attendance confirmed that they have developed a flexible timetablethat enabled the female journalists to get a shift of two working days where they can study Universities, colleges in order to advance their education and enhancetheir professional development. Three female journalists who benefitted from theseflexible timetables developed by the media directors after penning the declaration expressed their views and welcomed the move by the directors. The female journalists indicated that they have taken advantage of the offer and enrolled in the local Universities and are now able to balance their jobs, families and the studies unlike in the past.The studies will enable the female journalists to get promoted and get increased salaries, which improves their financial status.

Sexual Harassment and Violence: All the media directors statedthat they regard the sexual harassment and violence against women journalists inside and outside the media stations as crime against the law. 8 media directors confirmed that they have developed sexual harassment policies that protect the female journalists, they put those policies in place after signing the gender respect declaration in December 2018. To emphasize the effectiveness of the policies, three mediadirectors underlined that they had installed CCTV cameras in their stations tomonitor the harassments happening with in their stations. Ahmed IsseGutale, the director of Mustaqbal radio in Mogadishu reported one incident of sexual harassment since installing the CCTV cameras. Without giving further explanations, Gutale statedthat the management has investigated the matter, checked the CCTV recordingand solved thecase.

Gender Desk: Manyof the media directors noted that they established gender departments dealing with gender issues and nominated women to lead those departments, where female journalists can easily reporttheir complaints of sexual harassment and violence against them without fear. 3mediamanagers stated that theymade the decisions to establish the departmentafter recognizing the need to give the female journalists a trustedchannel where they can exhaust all their complaints without fear or feeling of shy. Two female journalists who participated in the round table confirmed the existence of those gender departmentsand supported the move and stated that they now have confidence to report the cases of harassment freely unlike in the past when a lot of cases use to go unreported.Both female journalists and the managers appreciated the existence of the Gender Declaration, which they said became a tool to use for the improvement of the working conditions of women journalists.

Annual, Sick and Maternity Leaves: Maternity or sick leave was one of the issues debated by the participants of the roundtable discussions. 10 directors in attendance confirmed that they have developed leave policies for their workplace, which stipulate the entitlement of their workers especially female journalists to various leaves like annual, sick and maternity leave. Leila Osman and Samira Hassan who reported back to their respective offices after they were granted three months paid maternity leave confirmed that the signing of the declaration by the media houses has relieved many female journalists and brought positive changes. Two more media managers stated that they have hired consultants to draft leave policies and other policies and they will soon introduce them in their workstations and implement.

Gender Sensitivity Trainings: This was one of the areas that was discussed in lengthy by the participants during the RT meeting. To offer gender-balanced coverage, some of the directors highlighted that they have conducted gender sensitivity training in their stations. The directors who conducted the training described it as a tool where their media houses have achievedimproved social relations and values within the community.

Training and Development:The managers stated that they have employed equal opportunity policy where both male and female journalists benefited from the available trainings. The directors of Tusmo radio, Kalsan and SBC TVs stated that they use to prioritize female journalistswhen training opportunities arise even before signing the declaration. They underlined that declaration has improved the awareness of many media managers expressing hope that it will soon have positive impact on the remaining media houses.Mowlid Sheikh Mohamud, the director Kalsan TV said he has seen improvement in the working relationship in the workplace since he opted for the equal opportunity training among the workers.

Separate Toilets, Prayer Room, Ablution, Dressing Room:Three directors confirmed that they have separate toilets for female journalists in their workplaces. Ahmed IsseGutale, the director of Mustaqbal radio stated that the female journalists have separate toilets where they have their keys. He highlighted that the toilets were labelled to avoid confusion.

Promotion:Since signing the declaration in 2018, fourmedia directors have confirmed that they have promoted female journalists following their commitment and hard work. Farhiyo Mohamud Yussuf, who was promoted recently by the management of Somnews TV said she now works closely with different producers, assigns, controls and edits their programs.

The female journalists promoted by the media houses following the signing of the declaration are as follows:

Farhiya Mohamud Yusuf- promoted to the head of programs of Somnews. Before her promotion she was a reporter and a presenter. She now manages, assigns, edits the work of her co-workers and takes decisions of what to do in her portfolio.

ZamZam Mohamed Ali was promoted as the head of digital of Mustaqbal radio. Initially, she was a producer and presenter at the radio. ZamZam leads a group of producers and manages their work.

Ifrah Mohamed Abdikarim- appointed as the head of international relations of Somali National News Agency (SONNA). Mohamed who graduated from a University in Yemen held different positions in radio Mogadishu and SONNA before promotion.

Maida Muhidin Dhiblawe- was appointed the Head of Human Resource Management of Radio Mogadisho.Dhiblawe now manages, supervises and provides advice to the management on compensation, benefits, training and development. She is responsible for the smooth operation of the organization’s human resources department.

Gaps

Separate Toilets, Prayer Room, Ablution, Dressing Room:Most of the directors who attended the roundtable discussions stated that they are yet to establish separate toilets, prayer room, ablution and dressing room because of limited spaces in their workstations. Citing safety as a priority, the directors highlighted that most media houses operate in rented expensive houses with limited spaces along Maka al-Mukarama road. They said there is low possibility of implementing this principle soon if Mogadishu’s status quo remains the same.

Equal Salary: Equal salary is one the areas where the participants discussed in lengthy during the meeting. The directors stated that they pay their workers according to performance. They claimed that there is no standard salary scale for paying the employees. To substantiate this, most of the directors have little understanding on the difference between salary and bonus since they base the salaries on the performance of the employees. Some of the female journalists who were promoted recently stated that their morale was boosted but there was no salary increment or benefit attached to the new post.

By the way, they also confirmed that the promotion gives them the opportunity to be free from the male domination.

Recommendations

The participants made some recommendations during the meeting.

The participants advised SWJO to go round to the media houses and ascertain the principles implemented by the media houses, the ones not yet implemented and the challenges surrounding these points.