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 was aimed to assess the progress on implementation of the Gender Declaration, it was attended by media directors, female journalists and media associations.
Ms. Nasrin Mohamed Ibrahim, the deputy Chair-lady 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 their 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 Ahmed Isse Gutale stated that they made efforts to implement most 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.
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.
The round table discussion concluded with a lunch for the participants.
Somalia media houses have signed gender respect declaration in December 2018. The declaration anchored on the benchmarks of equality at workplace, maternity leave for female journalists, commitment to fight harassment and violence against female journalists, commitment to remove gender-based restrictions during recruitment and equal pay and career opportunities.
It was aimed to transform the predominant culture and create tangible change for women working in the Somali media sector.
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