Box
1 The place of women and the media in national action
plans
Box 2 : Women's under representation
in the media world
Box 3 : Greater
coordination of activities in connection with Women And
the Media
Note
about this publication
Preface
Africa
has made significant pro ress in the area of Women, Information,
Communication and Arts since the Dakar and Beijing Conferences,
but some of the initiatives taken have been marked by contrasts.
The major initiatives have been by individual and roup efforts
and have included: the establishment of women s radio programmes,
community programmes, women- directed radio programmes for
women, active information centres for women, dynamic associations
of women journalists, the participation of women non- governmental
or anizations ( NGOs) in the formulation of vibrant media
policies in some countries and the development of artistic
works by women. In spite of these breakthroughs, women s representation
in the private and public media has remained low.
The
paradox of it all is that women are still not seen in terms
of media ownership. Although they are more in number in public
media institutions or departments, they occupy positions of
little significance and minimally of technical responsibility,
such as news- casting and decision- making. The inclusion
of women in national communication and information reform
plans is a step forward, but the public media should follow
this up with well- defined strategies for women s advancement.
The
importance of information and communication as a specific
area and as a cross- cutting theme in the12 priority areas
identified in the Dakar and Beijing Programmes has not been
fully acknowledged. Most of the countries which took part
in the Beijing Conference have not included Women, Information,
Communication and Arts among their priority action plans.
Those which have done so have not yet attained their cruising
speed as recommended by the Conference s report. Most national
reports indicate that Governments are not committed to developing
a positive image of women in the media.
Progress
in this area is more noticeable in Southern Africa and North
Africa than in other regions of the continent and is mainly
attributable to the efforts of international subregional or
anizations, national associations, private enterprises and
NGOs. Such progress should be followed up, reinforced and
articulated with the efforts of Governments in order to achieve
the stated objective of reducing the gender disparity in communication
and the media. An application of the strategies of training,
employment and development should go along with the crucial
one of increasing media covera e of women s issues which will
provide men and women in Africa with timely information to
enable them to take decisions that affect women s lives, fully
aware of what they are doing.
This
report which examines the presence of women in the communication
profession in Africa has the following three objectives:
(
a) To assess the progress made in this area since the Dakar
and Beijing Conferences;
(
b) To identify the main constraints to the attainment of
the objectives identified by the two Conferences;
(
c) To recommend actions for overcoming the obstacles. Within
the framework of its mandate to promote the inte ration
of the ender approach in national development policies in
Africa, the African Centre for Women ( ACW) expects the
conclusions and recommendations of this report to stimulate
dialogue involving Governments, relevant departments/ ministries
and international, regional and subregional organizations,
in order to sharpen their focus on and redirect their various
actions at increasing the integration of women in national
information, communication and arts reform plans.
[Table
of contents]
Introduction
This
report was prepared in connection with the Sixth African Regional
Conference on Women s mid- decade review of the implementation
of the Dakar Platform for Action and the Beijing Programme
of Action. It attempts to assess the progress already achieved
and to determine the impact of actions taken by Governments,
NGOs and regional and international organizations for the
advancement of women in the field of information, communication
and arts. In doing this, it examined various documents and
sources of information, particularly countries plans of action
and their reports on the implementation of the Regional and
World programmes as well as the annual reports of international
organizations, the websites of various NGOs and communication
networks and the reports of various African conferences held
during the period under review.
In
assessing the initiatives taken in Africa in preparation for
the Beijing + 5 World Review in New York in June 2000, the
Sixth African Regional Conference on Women also provided a
unique opportunity for discussing the progress already made
and for exploring ways and means of enabling Africa to take
concerted action to ensure that the objectives set were truly
achieved. The conference was part of the international mechanisms
for following up and assessing the implementation of the global
action programmes for the advancement of women. The discussions
that took place during the workshop on this issue, during
the conference, were drawn on to enrich this report [1].
As
the 12 critical areas on women identified by the Dakar and
Beijing Programmes are strategic and closely linked, the importance
of information and communication both as a specific and as
a cross- cutting priority cannot be overemphasized.
The
Beijing Programme of Action is an affirmation of the principles
set out in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women ( CEDAW) . The Platform was
inspired by the Nairobi Forward- Looking Strategies for the
A vancement of Women and the relevant resolutions of the United
Nations Economic and Social Council ( ECOSOC) and General
Assembly.
The
Programme also takes into account the recommendations of the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,
the World Human Rights Conference, the International Conference
on Population and Development ( ICPD) and the World Social
Summit held in Copenhagen. The International Conference on
Nutrition and the World Conference on Education have all examined
various aspects of development and human rights in their specific
ambits and have accorded greater attention to reform plans
in favour of women and girls. The Geneva Declaration on rural
women and CEDAW also emphasized the need to empower women
and promote gender equality.
The
Beijing Conference, which drew on the recommendations of the
Fifth African Regional Conference on Women, identified the
critical areas requiring the concerted action of all parties
for the achievement of a genuine integration of women and
recognition of their role in the development process. The
African countries which participated in the Fifth Regional
Conference affirmed their determination to give unqualified
support to women s a vancement and their participation in
the continent s political and economic development.
The
African hearings organized by UNESCO in February 1995 discussed
the fundamental issue of women s access to the media, particularly
in the rural areas. The hearings emphasized the need to establish
rural newspapers and radio networks in Africa as a form of
participative communication for development. The hearings
also urged Governments to take concrete steps to secure the
participation of women as strategic vectors of education and
culture.
Finally,
prior to the Beijing Conference, UNESCO organized an International
Symposium in Toronto on Women and the Media. This symposium
which focused on freedom of expression and decision- making
stressed the importance of the media as a means of access
to knowledge, rights, freedom of expression and decision-
making. It also emphasized the need to remove media stereotyping
and demeaning portrayal and treatment of women.
[Table
of contents]
I.
Objectives and measures
According
to the Dakar and Beijing Programmes, for as long as women
do not participate with equity in all the technical and decision-
making aspects of communication, the media and arts, they
will continue to be given a false image and will remain ignorant
of the reality of their lives. The media has a major role
to play in the advancement of women by giving both men and
women a non- stereotyped, diversified and balanced image and
by respecting the dignity and the value of the human being.
The following are two of the main objectives of the Beijing
Programme:
(
a) To facilitate women s access to information and the media
on an equal footing with men;
( b) To encourage the elimination of sexual stereotypes through
surveys and awareness campaigns in the media.
In
order to attain these objectives, the Dakar and Beijing Programmes
recommended:
(
a) The establishment of gender- sensitive training programmes
in communication for men and women in the profession;
(
b) The adoption of communication policies specifically for
the advancement of women;
(
c) The mobilization of resources to train women in journalism,
film- making and video techniques as well as in science
and technology, environment, economics and political science;
(
d) Acknowledgement, by officials and media practitioners,
of the need to give greater coverage to women s issues;
(
e) The institution of a degree of media censorship to encourage
the projection of a more positive image of women while countering
the dissemination of negative stereotypes or the use of
women and girls for pornographic purposes;
(
f) The development and strengthening of alternative forms
of communication ( folklore, rama) particularly in the rural
areas;
(
g) The conduct of surveys and collection of information
on gender issues, including gender relations, culture and
the media;
(
h) The review of communication policies to reflect gender
concerns and to guarantee freedom of expression to all members
of the society.
[Table
of contents]
II.
The issue
The
scientific and technological revolution has enabled the media
to expand its scope and power and, therefore, to increase
its coverage and dissemination of activities carried out by
women. A well- advised media can therefore assist women in
developing their rights and status. As this objective is far
from being attained, the Dakar and Beijing Progammes of Action
have included the treatment of information on women in the
12 critical areas.
Moreover,
the Beijing Conference revealed the existence of several negative
and degrading images of women in the various media, namely,
the electronic, print and audio- visual media. It noted that
these media neither give a balanced representation of the
diversity in women s lives nor do they adequately disseminate
women s contribution to society in the fast growing world.
Furthermore, the media still has to correct women s under-
representation in the sector. In fact, according to United
Nations statistics, women account for less than 25 per cent
of the print, radio and television media personnel in Africa,
Asia and Latin America. The corresponding figure for Europe
is 30- 36 per cent.
A
survey conducted by UNESCO in 1995 on the employment of women
in the media found that only seven out of 200 media institutions
in 30 countries are headed by women. Only one quarter of the
televised media deal with women s affairs, while three quarters
of these media programmes are presented by men. The same study
reveals that the feminization of the media does not really
reflect a gradual advancement of women to managerial positions.
[Table
of contents]
Box
1 The place of women and the media in national action
plans
| Forty-
five out of the 51 African countries which
participated in the Beijing Conference have
formulated their national plans of action.
However,
few countries have included Women and the
Media as a priority area in their strategy
for the advancement of women. Nine countries
did, namely, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso,
Burundi, Guinea, Madagascar, Namibia, Rwanda
and Togo.
Some
countries have decided to include Women
and the Media in other priority areas based
on the principle that information/ communication
is a cross- cutting theme in all nine priority
areas. Tunisia and Mali, for example, included
this theme in the priority areas for the
advancement of the rights of women.
In
short, most of the African countries that
participated in the Beijing Conference have
decided to remove this theme from their
national action plans. |
|
Out
of the 239 organizations observed, only eight small or periodic
radio stations or newspapers with low coverage or circulation,
mainly in Latin America, were headed by women, that is, only
three per cent of the cases surveyed in Latin America, as
compared to four per cent in Europe and one per cent in Africa.
The
ratio in managerial positions in the media is 140 women out
of 1000 employees.
A
survey conducted in 43 countries, in 1995, put the average
ratio of women in the various media at 25 per cent - 30 per
cent in Africa. In Tunisia, for example, the ratio rose from
22 per cent in 1994 to 25 per cent in 1998.
Women
are in the minority in decision- making concerning media management
and programming. They only hold 12 per cent of the positions
in the management boards of radio and television stations
and 9 per cent in those of the print media.
In
more than 83 countries, women account for at least half of
the students in the schools of journalism and communication.
Even where they hold the same qualifications with women, men
are more likely to be given a job in the media. Consequently,
women only account for 25 per cent of the permanent full-
time jobs in the media of African countries, compared to 79
per cent in part- time jobs and 44 per cent in temporary jobs.
[Table
of contents]
III.
African women in the media: A paradox
African
women have used communication to attain their aspirations
for equality and to demand their rights. It is a para ox that
20 years after the emergence of their demands as a real political
movement, in 1975, African women are still not in control
of the world of information and communication and are not
even seen as partners in their own rights.
[Table
of contents]
Box
2 : Women's under representation in the media world
| Women
are absent from among groups of owners of
information and communication organizations
They
are in the minority in information design
and establishment since most women working
in the media do administrative duties, while
the technical aspects, including design,
establishment and management are mainly
handled by men. As a result, women are often
passive consumers of information as they
do not control the content and the impact.
However, this situation is changing and
everywhere in the world, women s networks
have established radio stations for women,
including community radio stations and other
media, for expressing their views. |
|
Analysis
of employment in the media [2].
perfectly illustrates this point. The box below indicates
that women are not given parity; and this includes programme
organization, management and general control not only of the
media but also of the other technical aspects of information,
communication and arts. The issue is not only one of figures,
but also one of tradition, cultural norms and the exclusion
of gender considerations from economic models.
[Table
of contents]
IV.
Information and communication technology for development
According
to the World Report on communication published by UNESCO in
1997, the development of information technology is reducing
the imbalance between the industrialized and the poor countries.
However,
the debate initiated by UNESCO on the New Worl Information
Order ( NWIO) shows that serious disparities still exist between
these two groups of countries in terms of communication and
new technologies.
The
UNESCO report considers this huge gap particularly striking
for Africa which has only 1 per cent of the world s telephone
lines for its 12 per cent of the world s population. In 1994,
there were more telephone lines in the city of Tokyo alone
than in the whole of Africa whereas the population of Africa
was 30 times more than that of the Japanese capital. In 1995,
Africa had one telephone line per 1000 inhabitants.
[Table
of contents]
Disparities
within Africa
Within
10 years, the number of telephone lines per 100 inhabitants
( teledensity) doubled in the Maghreb. In South Africa, it
rose by more than 2 per cent. In sub- Saharan Africa, it remained
unchanged. The disparity also exists in the distribution of
audio- visual equipment, programme production and content.
Less than 4 per cent of Africans have a TV set ( 14.2 per
cent of homes, as against 55.3 per cent in Asia) . Africa
remains info- poor in spite of the spectacular advances in
communication ( highly developed equipment, more powerful
connection networks and the growing interest of the private
sector to invest in this area) .
[Table
of contents]
Impact
of literacy among women
Equipping
women to enable them to contribute effectively to development
is a development issue. The media could be a reliable ally
in this respect and in the advancement of women, but this
idea could be far- fetched considering the high level of illiteracy
in Africa [3]. and the
doubt that African women could influence information and communication
in the foreseeable future. Indeed:
(
a) The ratio of illiteracy among women ( 63 per cent in
1995) is higher than that among men; and
(
b) The ratio of girls enrolment in primary schools is 58
per cent, compared to 73 per cent for boys. According to
the 1996 Human Development Report, sub- Saharan Africa has
38 per cent illiterate men and 62 per cent illiterate women.
It has the lowest level of primary school enrolment, only
20.3 per centfor girls, compared to 25.9 per cent for boys
in 1992.
[Table
of contents]
V.
A troubled regional context
Over
the past five years, Africa has experienced and is still experiencing
contradictory political and military occurrences with the
democratization going on in places. In fact, no subregion
of the continent has been spared of tension capable of egenerating
into armed conflict. North Africa fears the consequences of
the conflict in the Sudan. East Africa has three conflicts
to contend with in Somalia, Burundi and Rwanda. Southern Africa
too has had conflict- ridden areas: Angola and Mozambique.
West Africa has had to grapple with conflicts in Guinea- Bissau,
Sierra Leone and Liberia. Central Africa has been faced with
conflicts in the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. Thus, the democratic process has been
running side by side with civil wars which are often exacerbated
by the adverse effects of structural adjustment programmes
which have invariably been cited, as scapegoats, for poor
governance.
This
situation hinders moves to attain the social and economic
development objectives, widens the existing gap and further
impoverishes the most marginalized groups, including women.
It is therefore evident that the objective of defending women
s rights and of enhancing their advancement in general and
in the media in particular have not been considered central
in the efforts made by Governments and international organizations
operating in the region.
The
theme of women s a vancement has, nonetheless, featured more
prominently on the African agenda than ever before, especially
in Southern Africa, as a result of actions particularly aimed
at implementing the Dakar and the Beijing recommendations
on women and the media.
[Table
of contents]
VI.
Complex follow- up mechanisms within the United Nations
system
Since
its founding, the United Nations Organization has been working
to promote equality between men and women. This principle
is enshrined in the Charter and specified in articles 1 and
2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Economic
and Social Council ( ECOSOC) is responsible for coordinating
the implementation of the Beijing Programme of Action, and
sees to the mainstreaming of gender in United Nations policies
and programmes. The Administrative Committee on Coordination
( ACC) is responsible for coordinating the United Nations
policy with respect to the implementation of the Beijing Programme.
The
World Conferences on Women ( Mexico 1975, Copenhagen 1980,
Nairobi 1985 and Beijing 1995) were complemented ( in terms
of preparation, follow- up and evaluation) by the regional
conferences on women. The Regional Economic Commissions are
the links in the global follow- up mechanisms.
The
Division for the A vancement of Women ( DAW) which is part
of the United Nations Secretariat coordinates the implementation
of the Beijing Programme of Action for the period 1996- 2000.
DAW has set up the Inter- Agency Committee on Gender and Development
comprising the representatives of United Nations bodies responsible
for women, gender and development.
In
October 1998, the Division sent a questionnaire to Governments
to collect information on their follow- up action to the Beijing
Programme of Action.
Part
1: National guidelines for the advancement of women and
gender equality
Part
2: Resource allocation and institutional arrangements
Part
3: Actions undertaken in the critical areas contained in
the Beijing Programme of Action.
The
findings of this survey was meant to provide substance for
the Secretary- General s evaluation report to the forty- forth
session of the Committee on the Status of Women ( CSW) as
well as to the special session of the General Assembly scheduled
for June 2000.
CSW
and the Committee on CEDAW work closely with DAW in the formulation
of policies and ecisions in their respective spheres of activity.
The
United Nations Development Fund for Women ( UNIFEM) has been
restructured, its programme harmonized and its operations
in connection with the Beijing Programme of Action strengthened.
This agency s programmes focus on four principal themes: economic
and political empowerment of women; establishment of structures
to combat gender disparities; development of the fundamental
rights of women; elimination of all forms of violence against
women.
Among
the strategies pursued by UNIFEM for greater economic and
political empowerment of women, the most relevant are:
(
a) Encouraging development agents to give political and
financial support to women, increasing women s capacities,
and providing leadership training for women s organizations
and networks; and
(
b) Promoting effective partnerships between women s organizations
and Governments, the United Nations system and the private
sector.
UNIFEM
devotes part of its activities to developing mechanisms for
disseminating information on women- related activities to
the media, partners and decision makers; the womenwatch website
is part of this initiative.
The
International Institute for Research and Training for the
A vancement of Women ( INSTRAW) was established in 1975 on
the recommendation of the First World Conference on Women.
Its mission is to undertake worl wide research, training and
information activities aimed at enhancing the essential contribution
made by women to sustainable development. It devotes its efforts
to studying obstacles to women s contribution to sustainable
development. INSTRAW works in close cooperation with Governments,
NGOs, universities and United Nations organs. It develops
training methodologies and adaptable approaches to various
issues, including women s image- making and their participation
in the mass media and other information mechanisms. The main
agencies of the United Nations system, such as the United
Nations Development Fund ( UNDP) , United Nations Population
Fund ( UNFPA) , United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) , United Nations Children
s Fund ( UNICEF) and the World Bank, have pledged to adopt
the gender approach and to apply it in their activities. UNDP
has set up centres for coordinating women s affairs, with
special attention given to governance, economic issues and
gender equality. It also supports women s participation in
the political, economic and social sectors through a new approach.
UNDP has played a very active role in the adoption of national
plans for following up the Beijing Programme of Action, particularly
in Africa. These plans focus on capacity building and strengthening
information systems at the national level to facilitate exchange
of views on best practices. UNDP has devoted 20 per cent of
its resources to advancing the status of women and has integrated
the gender approach in all its programmes.
UNFPA
focuses its strategies on developing the existing links between
women s economic empowerment, gender equality and reproductive
rights. UNESCO emphasizes gender equality for its next Worl
Conferences. During the past two years, it has set up new
structures for the operational activities of promoting the
role of women in development.
UNICEF
is providing support to African countries reviewing their
legislation. It has financed a large part of the translation
of the Beijing Programme into African national languages.
The
World Bank has included gender equality in its poverty- alleviation
programmes. It has successfully established women s banks
and provided a wide range of loan facilities for women. One
of the Bank s priority areas is education for the girl- child.
Consequently, the Bank has increased its fund allocation for
women s a vancement to $ US 900 million a year. It is also
working to strengthen partnership with women s organizations
and NGOs, particularly in Africa and South- East Asia.
This
brief description of the mechanism established within the
United Nations System for following up the implementation
of the Beijing Programme of Action shows it is a complex process
and that, in itself, is capable of hindering the collection
and exchange of data as well as the evaluation of the progress
achieved.
In
his report on the implementation of the medium- term plan
( 1996- 2001) , the United Nations Secretary- General particularly
recommended to United Nations agencies: to coordinate the
collection, presentation and dissemination of gender- disaggregrated
social and economic data; to improve field inter- agency coordination
for greater integration of gender equality; to increase exchange
of data and experiences on gender parity at the regional level;
and to assist countries to improve their inter- sectoral expertise
on gender equality.
[Table
of contents]
VII.
Follow- up mechanisms at the African level
The
Fifth African Regional Conference entrusted the follow- up
of the recommendations of the Dakar Platform at the African
level to the joint OAU/ ADB/ ECA Secretariat. ECA was particularly
mandated to monitor the implementation of the Beijing Programme
of Action and to assist in its implementation in Africa. The
African Regional Coordinating Committee for the integration
of women in development ( ARCC) , now Committee on Women and
Developmen ( CWD) , works closely with the joint secretariat
in following up the implementation of the Programme and in
the preparation of reports and related documents for submission
to the Council of Ministers and Assembly of Heads of State
and Government of OAU.
African
Governments and institutions, signatories to the Beijing Declaration,
endorsed the Platform for Action and pledged: to establish
mechanisms for its implementation, monitoring and evaluation;
to adopt policies for the advancement of women; and to participate
in the development process in general.
[Table
of contents]
7.1
Subregional meetings
During
the past three years, ACW organized the following subregional
meetings within the framework of its mandate to follow- up
and assist countries in the implementation of their national
plans of action:
(
a) The meeting of West African countries held in Dakar in
November 1997;
(
b) The meeting of Eastern and Southern African countries
held in Seychelles in February 1998;
(
c) The meeting of Central African countries held in Bangui
in June 1998; and
(
d) The meeting of North African countries held in Rabat
in October 1998.
These
meetings provided countries the opportunity to evaluate their
activities and programmes carried out in fulfillment of the
commitments made in Dakar and Beijing and to discuss constraints
and difficulties in the preparation and implementation of
their action plans. The meetings also made a series of recommendations
to countries:
(
a) To emphasize the issue of gender in training programmes,
to speed up the training of trainers and the training of
male and female public and private sector workers involved
in women s advancement;
(
b) To give the required attention to follow- up and evaluation
and to plan training sessions on indicators for monitoring
and evaluating implementation of national action plans;
(
c) To make maximum use of the potentials of subregional
and regional institutions, and to revitalize cooperation
among NGOs, Governments and the private sector;
(d)
To strengthen subregional and regional mechanisms for exchanging
information on women, and to establish mechanisms for facilitating
women s access to modern communication services.
[Table
of contents]
7.
2 Other regional meetings
Other
meetings were held to follow up the implementation of the
strategic objectives of the Beijing Programme. Among these
are:
(
a) The ECA Conference of Ministers held in 1996 which adopted
the African Information Society Initiative ( AISI) to bring
the continent up to date and integrate it in the new era
of communication for development;
(
b) The Africa/ Asia Fora held in Bangkok in 1997 to strengthen
the economic role of women;
(
c) The Conference held in Nairobi, in 1998, as a follow-
up to the Eastern and Southern Africa social Summit;
(d)
The second global Women s Entrepreneurship Forum and Trade
Fair, which took place in A dis Ababa in 1998;
(
e) The International Conference to commemorate the fortieth
anniversary of ECA, held in Addis Ababa in April 1998; and
(
f) The Ministerial meeting of the Committee on Women and
Development, held in Ouagadougou in April 1999.
Each
of these meetings, with almost no exception, dealt with various
aspects of women s advancement without necessarily stressing
information as a priority development area. The international
conference organized by ECA on the theme: African Women and
Economic Development is one of the most important meetings
held after the Beijing Conference. This conference provided
an opportunity to fine- tune the strategic guidelines contained
in the Dakar and Beijing Platforms. It was also an important
forum for an in- depth dialogue among policy- makers, representatives
of civil society organizations and representatives of funding
agencies. The conference stressed the role of Information
Communication and Technology ( ICT) as a tool for education
and democratization which should be used for the advancement
of women.
The
workshop discussion, during this conference, which addressed
the theme African Women and the Information Age examined the
following four important issues requiring the establishment
of an immediate strategy for concerted action :
(
a) The integration of the gender approach in ICT policies;
(
b) The establishment of information centres for women;
(
c) Using ICT for the development of democracy;
( d) The impact of ICT on women s work.
[Table
of contents]
VIII.
Summary of progress achieved
Five
years after the Beijing Conference, slow but sustained changes
have been taking place in the way women s issues are perceived
and managed. The issue of gender which should underlie moves
to redefine the role of women in the development process seems
to be gaining ground. This is at least true of one of the
priority areas of the Beijing Programme of Action: Women,
Communication, Information and Arts .
It
is important to note that research conducted on this issue
indicate that at the continental level several experiments
have been carried out and have been crowned with success.
These successes should be strengthened and disseminated. For
illustration, this report has cited some of the most important
of them in view of their originality and impact.
[Table
of contents]
8.1.
Support from the international community
UNESCO
is remarkable for its large number of programmes and projects
throughout Africa.[4].
The organization initiated 10 projects covering five of the
10 critical areas identified by the Platform, including women
s access to the media. It has also allocated a part of its
regular budget to activities for the advancement of women
and has taken measures to ensure that these projects are not
affected by budgetary cuts.
For
its triennial plan ( 1995- 1997) , UNESCO decided to pursue
concrete actions on the ground, giving priority to:
(
a) The development of the network of women journalists (
WOMMED) established in 1995 in Beijing; and
(
b) The establishment of training activities for women in
the use of the community media and new technologies.
The
African Networking Initiative ( ANI) was established in 1995
as the fruit of a collaborative action between ECA, ITU and
IDRC. It was followed by the launching of AISI in 1996 with
the assistance of other United Nations institutions. The UNESCO
Chair programme in communication covers the whole continent.
Since 1997, Tunisia has hosted an academic chair for studies
on the Status of Women - the first of its kind in the Arab
world.
UNESCO
works closely with the International Telecommunications Union
( ITU) to support ANI as well as community information programmes
in the form of public and community libraries as a means of
access to the information highway in four countries, namely,
Benin, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Uganda.
Importantly,
women s radio has become a reality through radio production
workshops focusing on women s training issues and needs.
In
Cape Verde, Cameroon and Malawi, several rural radio stations
run by women for women have been established. They broadcast
programmes on health, child education, vocational/ professional
training opportunities and employment, and on women s role
in local development initiatives, particularly in agriculture.
This project also provides training for women in communication,
particularly in the rural areas.
UNESCO
s international programme on development and communication
provided assistance for the establishment, in Mali, of a pilot
center for women publishers. Moreover, the project Women On
Net ( WON) was launched under the auspices of UNESCO. This
project involves 40 women s associations communicating through
the Internet and working mainly with the local people. In
Senegal, the project recently established an electronic communication
programme for women, aimed at using this medium to promote
activities carried out on the ground by women s associations
in French- speaking Africa.
In
cooperation with the African Institute for Democracy, UNESCO
organized a regional Seminar on Women and the Media in Dakar,
in March 1997, in which 12 French- speaking African countries
participated. The establishment of a regional media centre
for women, a Pan- African Radio for women, and the evelopment
of cooperation among the network of African women information
and communication professionals ( APAC, UPAFI, WOMMED/ FEMMED,
WAMNET) are some of the key recommendations of this Seminar.
The
Francophone Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation
( ACCT) considers access to the information highway essential
for development. Furthermore, with the establishment in June
1988 of a Francophone Information Highway Development Fund,
ACCT approved several projects including the setting- up of
a website by the NGO Environment et development du tiers-
monde ( ENDA) based in Senegal. This site links various African
information highways on women and offers training to African
women on electronic communication techniques.
The
UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa has prepared a multidisciplinary
gender programme based on the Dakar and Beijing Programmes
and aimed at overcoming the major obstacles to gender equality.
It has three main components:
(
a) Women and Leadership;
( b) Economic Empowerment of Women and
( c) Information and Communication strategy.
The
chapter on Information and Communication aims to establish
a women s network, strengthen South- South transfer of new
information technologies and disseminate best practices and
lessons learnt through the media.
Moreover,
the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa has designed numerous
programmes to combat violence against women, by:
(
a) supporting networks involved in the defence of women
s rights through a vocacy, training and legal education
and
( b) financing research.
The
Inter- Press global News Agency ( IPS) has made a unique effort
to democratize the media by:
(
a) giving more space to the concept of gender and
( b) firmly integrating the viewpoints of women in all its
areas of activity.
Drawing
on the Beijing and Toronto Programmes of Action, IPS adopted
an employment policy and an editorial view based on the gender
approach, giving priority to women as sources of information.
The IPS Africa Bureau in Harare, Zimbabwe, organized a workshop
on the theme Gender, Media and Policy in 1996. Furthermore,
the Bureau provided support for the establishment of a training
programme on tools for analysing the gender concept. Various
training programmes were organized for male and female journalists
on various issues, particularly discrimination against women
and the education of the girl- child
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8.2.
Special regional initiatives
Establishment
of networking and electronic networks
For
some years now, with the assistance of private organizations,
Governments and international organizations, Africa has gone
online and is increasingly adapting itself to the networking
culture. Scores of electronic networks on women have been
established, notably: the Femme Afrique 1996; Femmes Afrique-
Info ; the GAIN electronic network on gender and the Women
s Net. Actions taken by some international NGOs illustrate
the scope of this development. The NGO, ENDA Tiers- Monde,
has launched in cooperation with the team Synergie Genre et
Développement ( SYNFEV) a Communication for Women programme
that would enable French- speaking women s associations to
avail of the new opportunities for action offered by electronic
communication.
ENDA
has established an electronic network connecting women s NGOs
and providing training for representatives of French- speaking
women s organizations dealing with rights and reproductive
health. The two organizations have given technical assistance
to five West African countries, namely, Mali, Burkina Faso,
Côte d Ivoire and Togo apart from Cameroon, and have taken
part in various regional meetings on women and communication.
They have organized a training workshop on Organization of
and participation in electronic solidarity campaigns to assist
African women in the use of the internet for the promotion
and defence of human rights. ENDA/ SYNFEV plans to systematize
the identification of sources of information capable of meeting
the needs of African women in the areas of health, rights
and economic empowerment. It also plans to strengthen information,
training and awareness creation on the importance of African
women going online to take control of the electronic communication
tool.
The
Association for Progress in Communication (APC)
The
APC programme deals with women and plays a decisive role in
facilitating networking and information exchange on the World
Conference on Women. In 1997, the programme launched an electronic
network called APC Femmes- Afrique to coordinate the work
of women and bring together a core group of active women working
in their communities for the development and use of the electronic
tool. This programme has had a major impact in Kenya, Tanzania,
Uganda, Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Zambia, South Africa and
Mozambique.
The
Abantu for Development and Sango Net organize training sessions
to assist women to have access to ITCs.
The
Forum for Women in Democracy ( FOWODE) has provided women
Members of Parliament in Uganda with relevant information
from the internet to enable them to improve the quality of
their work in the Ugandan Parliament.
The
Network of African Women for Development and Communication
( FEMNET) was one of the African regional organizations that
participated actively in the organization of the Fifth African
Regional Conference on Women held in Dakar, and in the coordination
of the African NGO participation in the Beijing Conference.
As a follow- up to the Global Platform, FEMNET has prepared
a questionnaire to gauge the relevance of its priority programmes
and the quality of its publications and activities. The network
is attempting to fill the information gap in Africa by publishing
a directory of information providers for sustainable development
in Africa.
The
Network of Central African Women ( RESEFAC) was established
in 1998 in Bangui, Central African Republic, to encourage
the inclusion of the real needs of women as well as those
of women s professional organizations in the development policies
of their countries.
African
Women's Media Centre (AWMC)
This
centre was established in Dakar in 1997 and aims to provide
Africans working in the media with training and professional
advancement opportunities. It offers courses in various fields,
notably, journalism, politics, economics, and computer- assisted
publishing. It also publishes a bilingual newspaper in English
and French for journalists and publishes articles written
by African women journalists.
ECA's
Development Information Services Division (DISD)
Determined
to foster Africa s development through a new information strategy,
ECA established DISD in 1996 giving it exclusive responsibility
for development information. Through this Division, ECA embarke
on an ambitious programme aimed at developing the use of communication
networks and new information technologies to compile and disseminate
statistical and geographical data for sustainable development.
This programme has various components, including, in particular,
the provision of technical assistance to member States in
the formulation of national communication policies and the
establishment of national communication infrastructure. The
programme also includes coordination with regional Offices
of United Nations agencies, bilateral and multilateral partners,
NGOs and the private sector, for the implementation of AISI.
Following a Conference organized by ECA in April 1998 on African
Women and Economic Development , ACW established a Task Force
on gender- disaggregated data.
ACW
ACW
is the body responsible for implementing the ECA strategy
on the advancement of women. The Centre works in close cooperation
with national and regional organizations concerned with the
advancement of women s rights. Information for the advancement
of women is key in this strategy and, therefore, the Centre
has:
(
a) Launched, with the support of the World Bank, a compendium
of best practices in various fields particularly information
and ICTs for advancing the status and rights of women in
Africa;
(
b) Published national brochures on the status of women in
Africa accompanied by the production of a CD- ROM on the
issue. The aim of these initiatives is to provide women
s organizations, in particular, with gender- disaggregated
data needed for sustained advocacy for the elimination of
gender- based discrimination in development policies;
(
c) In line with the conclusions reached during the international
conference on African Women and Economic Development , plans
to establish, in the near future, subregional business centres
to strengthen the capacity of women entrepreneurs. The feasibility
study for this project is under way and involves UNDP. The
business centres are to serve as centres for data collection,
processing and dissemination.
They
will also provide consultancy, technical and capacity- building
services. At the national level, they will play the role of
enterprise development services and resource centers for information
exchange on major tenders and investment opportunities for
women.
[Table
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IX.
Impact and limitations of the progress achieved
The
initiatives taken at various levels for the implementation
of the recommendations of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms
are still too recent for their impact to be fully assessed.
Their impact can only be determined on a long- term basis
using various tools, such as questionnaire- based opinion
surveys, field surveys, case studies and operational research.
However, the following analysis can be made:
(
a) Women have made a remarkable breakthrough in the world
of information and communication since the Beijing Conference.
Women, particularly in English- speaking Africa, have become
more aware of the importance of and opportunities provided
by new information technologies as well as the need to use
these opportunities for their own interests.
(
b) International organizations have entered an important
phase in the implementation of their information strategy.
They have integrated gender considerations in their assistance
and training programmes, using the gender approach. By so
doing, they have respected the spirit of the Beijing Conference
and honoured their commitments to the priority area of women
and communication . However, concerning follow- up, the
questionnaire sent by DAW to Governments in an effort to
assess their implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Programmes
of Action and the Sixth African Regional Conference on Women
organized by ECA for the same reasons, are exceptions. In
reality, only a few United Nations agencies plan to assess
activities in connection with the Dakar and Beijing conferences.
(
c) International and regional NGOs are playing an increasingly
dynamic role having also increased their presence in the
field where they have further embraced the realities of
rural women. However, the absence of an assessment of impact,
no doubt, is the missing link, but ENDA Tiers- Monde has
made up for this by conducting an overall assessment of
the first phase of its Communication for Women ( 1997) programme
which covered basic issues such as access to ICT, training
and use. This assessment led to a reform of its work programme
and the inclusion of a ditional activities.
(
d) Networking is increasingly being used as a strategy for
closer ties and action among women s organizations and groups
with common interests. This trend has strengthened the South-
South partnership in the transfer of ICT. The Association
for the Progress of Communication ( APC) conducted a survey
in 1997 on women s networks with the theme Women and Information
Technology , and several African countries responded, namely,
Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Morocco
and Egypt.
(
e) The responses indicated that women clearly understood
the importance of the communication/ development/ advancement
link and women are ready to take advantage of the support
initiatives of such bodies as the APC women s networks.
The problem remains the lack of training, lack of access
to information and electronic networking and the high cost
of relevant equipment, particularly in Africa.
(
f) It is evident that these NGOs and international networks
have devised new and catalytic approaches, especially with
regard to the use of communication techniques by women to
improve their status in their communities. It is, however,
important to note that these NGOs and networks are not working
in very close cooperation with the African regional organizations
which could indeed help to harmonize and expand their activities.
It should also be noted that efforts are directed more to
the use of ICT than to encouraging the traditional modes
of communication.
g)
The experience of women- managed community radios and rural
radio stations in Zimbabwe and their counterparts in such
countries as Cape Verde, Cameroon and Malawi are appropriate
and successful initiatives which the international networks
need to further encourage. For example, the Worl Association
of Women Community Radio Broadcasters ( AMARC) should sponsor
such initiatives by using the structures and capacities
available in Africa.
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