Garowe: Women in Media Initiative WIMI in coordination with ADRA Somalia has organized and held in Garowe on the 28th of Sep 2019 an interactive debate on the challenges facing Somali women in the media.
The objective of the debate was to provide platform for discussing problems, consultation and experience sharing for female journalists. The panelist and participants discussed the problems, commented on the roles of different stakeholders, shared personal experience and brainstormed solutions and strategies for overcoming the challenges. The debate sheds light on the problems facing female journalist and will ignite dialogue and discussion regarding the issues.
The event was attended by mostly female journalists; media houses managers, women organizations leaders, and community activists. The panelists were of different backgrounds and have brought insights and ideas into the discussion, they were: Lul Jama, Head of Gender Dept. at MOWDAFA; Faisal Barre, veteran journalist and former MAP chairman; Jamal Arab, Head of Puntland Media; and Shugri Gashan, journalist and member of SWJ.
The panelists discussed the role of policies in the workplace in ensuring better work environment for female journalists. They argued that supportive work environment can contribute to increased recruitment and retention of female journalists in the media. Lul Jama has argued that if empowered, women in the media have a very high stake in advocating for youth, marginalized groups. She emphasized the role of female journalist is contributing significantly to the struggle of Somali women for achieving full political participation in state and federal level.
The event included panel discussions and questions from the keen participants of the debate who were very engaged, informed and who were interested in the issue. They argued passionately and have spoken from experience and this has generated productive discussion. Faisal Barre encouraged female journalists to cooperate together and strive in producing original stories which can garner public attention and can propel them in to career successes.
The activity has been done under the auspices of WIMI Stage, which is a platform created to give women, youth and marginalized people an inclusive platform through which they can reach out to the wider public and spread their creative ideas, expertise and participate in interactive debates on the pressing challenges and important questions of our time and age and generate new ideas and solutions.
In conclusion, the panelists have presented steps to be taken and suitable solutions for overcoming the challenges and have recommended cooperation, capacity building, hard work and networking of female journalist in order to increase productivity and affect change in the lives of women in general and the Somali society as a whole.
Women in Media Initiative (WIMI) is a non-profit/non-governmental organization which was established in order to give women in Somalia voice and visibility through Women in the media, by advocating, networking and capacity building.
It is expected that such discussion can aid in devising sustainable solutions to the very real challenges facing women in the media. If empowered, women in the media have a very high stake in advocating for youth, women and other marginalized groups and they can contribute to a peaceful and productive society in Puntland and Somalia.
