WUNRN
Statement
PACIFIC REGION GENDER AND MEDIA ADVOCACY
TRAINING WORKSHOP
Suva/Fiji, 23 – 25 October, 2007.
Participants at the
World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) femLINKPACIFIC Gender and
Media Advocacy Seminar for the Pacific staged in Suva, Fiji Islands (October 23
– 25, 2007) have reaffirmed that the results of the Global Media Monitoring
Project (2005) and the Pacific Women in Media Action Plan have the
potential to advance the commitments of gender equality in and through the
media, including advancing the implementation of the UN Convention for the
Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), as well as
the revised Pacific Platform for Action (PPA) and national Women’s Action
Plans.
The Pacific Women in
Media Action Plan, in particular, was a critical step forward in advancing
Section J (Women and the Media) of the Beijing Platform for Action,
especially as it is a commitment by Pacific Media Executives themselves.
This Action Plan was
first adopted in September 2006 and reaffirmed by participants at a
workshop on Advancing Gender Equality in the Pacific (Honiara, May 2007).
The Plan acknowledges the potential of strategic coalitions with civil
society groups to promote the issue of women’s and children’s rights
as well as monitor governments on their progress towards
implementing CEDAW, the revised PPA, the Millennium Development Goals and
the Pacific Plan for Regional Cooperation.
The participants, who
included representatives from the National Councils of Women of Cook
Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea and Samoa, as well as women’s
media practitioners from Bougainville, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Tonga,
together with the Coordinator of Fiji Media Watch and a representative of
the Pacific Foundation for the Advancement of Women (PACFAW) recognised
that strategic and practical actions are needed to build on these advancements.
These activities will
include:
Improving and
strengthening women’s networks across the region, through the publication
of a Pacific Women Experts Directory, including profiles from civil
society, academia, the private sector and government for use by
Pacific Media and governments, as well as inter-government agencies, such
as the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, commencing with the development
of the directory;
At the regional level
UNESCO and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) will be provided
with the outcomes of the training seminar on Gender and Media Advocacy to
encourage the inclusion of National Councils of Women and women’s media
practitioners, including those from community media networks, in the
development of National Action Plans by media organisations – especially
to ensure the Pacific Women in Media Action is adopted by the Pacific
Islands News Association;
Monitoring the
implementation of the Pacific Women in Media Action plan at national level
by:
1. Forging positive partnerships and coalitions with the
media executives and organisations who adopted the action plan
in September 2006 and May 2007 and presenting the results of the GMMP
2005 through a series of local seminars;
2. Informing the NCW membership and networks about GMMP 2005 –
especially to sensitize the broader community to understand gender and the
media and enable the establishment of media monitoring working groups to
undertake ongoing and consistent media monitoring at national level;
3. Utilizing the existing expertise within the Pacific, which is
Fiji Media Watch to undertake a regional media monitoring
training programme and to then establish in-country training of
media monitoring groups in the lead up to GMMP 2010;
4. Working with media councils and media associations
to implement the action plan within their member organisations
– using the results of national media monitoring as evidence;
5. Developing and staging ongoing gender and media training
to promote media literacy from a gender perspective with a
special focus on young women.
Participants also
reaffirmed the role of women’s media initiatives, such as community radio
as a media strategy to advance commitments to gender equality as well as
strengthen and support community empowerment efforts.
Participants also
acknowledged the role of WACC and femLINKPACIFIC in staging this seminar,
which has opened our eyes to the issues of gender and media and equipped
us with the tools and skills to advocate for positive change in Pacific
media.
We look forward to
ongoing support from WACC and other development partners to assist us
achieve these goals.
Teebure Teeture,
AMAK/NCW Kiribati
Nga Teao, National
Council of Women Cook Islands
Asela Naisara, National
Council of Women Fiji
Lily Tua, National
Council of Women – Papua New Guinea
Pamela Sua, National
Council of Women Samoa
Violet Savu, Fiji Media
Watch
Litiana Tavaqa, PACFAW
Anne Marie Mokofosi,
Catholic Women’s League – Legal Literacy Project, Tonga
Lisa Horiwapu, Vois
Blong Mere Solomon, Solomon Islands
Louise Anne Laris,
Leitana Nehan Women’s Development Agency, Bougainville, PNG
Adi Vasu Chute,
FRIEND/femLINKPACIFIC
Mereani Lomavere,
FRIEND/femLINKPACIFIC
Eta Rabuatoka, femLINKPACIFIC
Ana Rakacikaci,
femLINKPACIFIC
Suva, Fiji Islands
October 25,
2007
Plan to attend Congress 2008: “Communication is
peace”
Cape Town, South Africa, October 6-10, 2008
For more info and pre-registration www.waccglobal.org/congress
Assistez au Congrès 2008: “La communication, c’est
la paix”
Le Cap, Afrique du Sud, Octobre 6-10, 2008
Se renseigner et s’incrire à www.waccglobal.org/congress
Participen en Congreso 2008: “Comunicación es paz”
Ciudad del Cabo, Sudáfrica, Octubre 6-10, 2008
Información y formulario de preinscripción a www.waccglobal.org/congress
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