After the completion of the Gender Declaration draft, Somali Women Journalist (SWJ), organized and held a round table meeting for validation and feedback from the media house stakeholders. The event was held on Sunday, 4 November, 2018 from 9:00 am to 01:00 pm followed by a lunch for the participants. It was held at Hotel Jazeera in Mogadishu, Somalia. About 30 media directors and 20 women journalists.
The purpose of this validation round table meeting was to share the content of the Gender Declaration, get their suggestions, and pave the way for its adoption, so women in the media can enjoy equal rights, work environment that is meets their needs and is free from discrimination and sexual abuse.
Ms. FarhiyaKheyre, Chair of SWJ welcomed the participants, highlighted briefly the purpose of the meeting followed by Mr. Farah Omar Nur, Head of Trainings for National Union of Somali Journalists NUSOJ who addressed the role of the media on staying informed about the situation of women journalists and ways they can implement the Gender Declaration. Mr. Abukar Sh. Ahmed Al Badri, Manager of International Media Support (IMS) Programs, spoke about the importance of the implementation of the gender declaration for women journalists. Ms. Zainab M. Hassan, Gender Expert Consultant conducted a comprehensive presentation about the Gender Declaration. The presentation covered all the general topics highlighted in the Declaration, and the Guiding Principles.
After a tea break, an openquestions and comments session was held for the participants to discuss the Gender Declaration, and provide feedback. Some of the key points highlighted include:
- Some do have a binding contract, and their media houses have separate restrooms and dressing rooms.
- Some have equal pay policy for doing the same jobs.
- One female stated that her employer has a maternity leave policy, and she was able to take three months of maternity leave.
- There is a need for separate prayer and ablation (Wuḍū)
- There is a need for nursery room.
- There is a need for training human resource personnel on the code of conduct.
- In some instances, both men and women journalist experience discrimination.
- To provide a copy of the Gender Declaration to all media houses in order to get in-depth understanding of it.
- To collectively accept the gender declaration in principle.
- To respect one another as colleagues regardless of gender.
- To include discrimination and sexual harassment aspect of the Gender Declaration in the Media Law that is currently being reviewed by the Federal Parliament.
- To refer to some of the verses of the Qur’an, Hadith, and the Somali culture instead of the Provisional Constitution and international laws.
- To collaborate with media associations and donors, so as to ensure the adoption of the Gender Declaration by members and grantees.
- To treat the Gender Declaration as a law once signed.
- To conduct civic education on discrimination and sexual harassment.
- To establish a mentoring program for women journalists.
After the question and comment session, the round table concluded with a lunch for the participants.
Overall, participants were actively engaged in the round table discussion, very open about issues, and provided good feedback. The majority of the participants complimented about the well balanced nature of the Gender Declaration, and its inclusionary approach, and expressed a need to get the buy in of the leadership of the media houses in order to ensure its adoption and implementation.
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