By Foday Moriba Conteh
During an auspicious ceremony held on Tuesday 21st February 2023 at Atlantic Hotel on Lumley Beach in Freetown, the Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Rahman Swarray officially launched a Policy Brief and the 2023 Media Gender Scorecard on the coverage of women in politics, peace, and security issues in Sierra Leone.
The Policy Brief and 2023 Media Gender Scorecard was developed by the Initiative for Media Development(IMDev) in collaboration with Independent Media Commission with support from Canada Fund for Local Initiative.
In his statement while launching the policy brief, the Minister commended the Initiative for Media Development and partners for putting together the Policy Brief and 2023 Media Gender Scorecard which he described as very important towards addressing issues related to the coverage of women in politics, peace and security issues in the country.
He said as Government they have started doing the things they ought to do of which he said they started with the Repeal of Part 5 of the 1965 Public Order Act and part of the argument they had at the time was that women will feel more comfortable to participate in the media or chose the media as a profession.
The Minister said that Government is committed towards the implementation of the provisions of Gender and Empowerment Bill, stating that directions have been given to Cabinet Ministers to work with Permanent Secretaries in order to establish gender offices in all Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
The President of Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, said that SLAJ recognises that gender inequality is a major challenge in the media in the country, adding that while they acknowledge that discrimination, harassment and inequality on the basis of gender are not limited to the media, SLAJ has made it a priority to deal with these issues within the industry.
“The launch of a policy brief on media gender scorecard in Sierra Leone comes at the right time as our parliament just enacted the GEWE Act 2023. I have not read the policy but I believe the Scorecard measures the extent of women’s participation in media coverage and decision-making and highlights the gender gap in media representation and its impact on women’s empowerment in Sierra Leone,” he revealed.
The Honorary Consul for Canada, Kofie Macauley, said the tools have been developed as part of IMDev’s project under the auspices of the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), adding that CFLI is a small grant programme that provides direct funding support to initiatives implemented by local partners.
Kofie Macauley noted that they are pleased that the Policy Brief and the Gender Media Scorecard will serve as a reference tool for the media and all other stakeholders – researchers, academics, media development organizations – to create conducive environment for inclusive political participation.
The Chair of the Female Parliament Caucus in Sierra Leone, Hon. Veronica Kadie Sesay, said there is a special need to put specific measures in place to ensure gender equality, as well as the integration of a gender parity perspective in the media to ensure that the sector is truly inclusive and that they contribute to social changes, be it in politics or economic development.
Hon. Veronica Kadie Sesay used the opportunity to encourage the girl child to pick up a career path to explore the field of Information and Communication Technologies thereby creating a platform for inclusion and visibility in public life and to the women media producers, the first task is to address the concerns of their fellow women and create an identity that imparts faith in them.
Giving the keynote address, the President of the 50-50 Group Sierra Leone, Dr. Fredline M’cormack-Hale, said they are happy to note that legal strides have been made and that there are series of laws passed including the gender equality and women’s empowerment act.
She said that this is a key area the media can work highlighting the number of women elected to leadership positions within the party as nominees and elective women thereby helping them to promote accountability adhering to these new laws, highlighting the challenges women face, and get them to speak about their plans and manifestos.
Giving the policy recommendations, the Executive Director of Initiative for Media Development, Yeama Thompson said that in order to increase gender-sensitive reporting in the media during elections in Sierra Leone, the following policy recommendations are suggested.
Firstly, to conduct a broad advocacy campaign in the media based on the evidence obtained in the 2023 Media Gender scorecard and 2018 Media Gender Scorecard. This includes statistics targeting media houses, media regulatory bodies, media owners Journalists unions and associations, bloggers, and relevant and competent services under the Ministries of Information and Communication and Women and Gender.
Secondly, to develop a gender equality policy or charter for the media and build a strong partnership with the sectoral Ministries concerned and relevant stakeholders such as the Gender Media Advisory Panel of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), Women in the Media Sierra Leone (WIMSAL), Sierra Leone Association of Women in Journalism (SLAWIJ) and other organisations, for the effective application of the gender policy.
Thirdly, to prioritise coverage of gender-related and other development issues from the local communities to ensure that underrepresented groups, including women, are adequately featured in the media.
Fourthly, to increase sensitisation and awareness-raising to bridge the information gap and give women a stronger voice in the media etc.
