The Alliance for Women in Media Africa (AWMA), in partnership with the School of Information and Communication Studies (SICS) of the University of Ghana, is set to launch its maiden ‘Status of Women in the Ghanaian Media: Providing Evidence for Gender Equality and Advocacy Report’.
The report is a product of collaborative research between AWMA and SICS, with funding from the US Embassy Small Grants Programme. Over 300 female media professionals were interviewed across all 16 regions of Ghana.
The publication is intended to serve as a resource for engaging different key stakeholders such as media owners, editors and managers, practitioners, and regulators. It also aims at advocating for better working conditions, smoother career progression and a safer working environment for women in the media industry.
The report forms part of AWMA’s advocacy programme; Women in Media Rising. Its objective is to provide baseline evidence for gender equality and advocacy in the news media.
“This report is a product of meaningful partnerships and collaboration. It provides much-needed evidence to aid our advocacy work. Women in media experience a lot of drawbacks- we know it, we feel it, and we talk about it. Without science, our sentiments alone won’t give the change we want to see. Let us use these finding to ACT for equity because action changes things”, stated Shamima Muslim, Convenor of AWMA.
“Without the evidence to back claims of gendered practices in the Ghanaian media, they remain anecdotal, and our efforts at correcting them can, at best, only be minimal in their impact. With a report like this, now it is possible to have real conversations on how to improve the lives of women working in the media. A more gender-equal media is good for Ghana, and this report draws us closer to it,” added Dr Abena A. Yeboah-Banin, a Senior Lecturer at the SICS, University of Ghana.
Prof. Akosua Darkwah, Head of the Sociology Department of the University of Ghana, will give the keynote address and launch the report.
Other speakers at the launch include Minister for Information, Hon Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Ambassador of the United States to Ghana, H.E. Stephanie S. Sullivan, as well as representatives of the Ghana Journalists Association, the Media Foundation for West Africa and the National Media Commission.
The launch will take place at the Centre for African Wetlands Auditorium of the University of Ghana, as well as on Zoom
