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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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