FOJO and EMWA links journalists to women experts.
By CHARM team
Across the region, media experts heavily rely on expert opinion as sources for their stories. Often, the desire to reach out to them to share their expert opinions on live TV, newspaper articles and even in podcasts is an uphill task. This has led to women being used less as sources for information.
A 2021 Gender Baseline Assessment Report by FOJO institute, spearheaded by support from CHARM, confirmed that less Ethiopian women were used less as sources for news and analysis. It was a finding that brought the urge to bridge the gap between the journalists and experts in all fields in the country.
FOJO, through their partnership with The Ethiopian Media Women Association, (EMWA) teamed up to produce the first ever online and offline directory that comprises of women experts in 18 different fields including the arts, engineering, journalism and fashion.
EMWA board members, Melkamsew Selomon, Rebecca Hunde and Yeshewa Masresha had a conversation with the CHARM Communication Officer Joyce Kimani to analyse the impact of the directory
“Bringing women’s voice to the media is one of the major activities that we are proud off,” said Selomon.” An immediate impact we noticed was the increased uptake of women as news sources especially in radio and tv interviews,” she added.
A total of 198 women are featured in the directory, which contains their names, professional history, phone number and area of expertise, making it easier for any journalists doing an interview on any field to find the information on how to reach them.
Ms Hunde, said the availability of the directory in hard and soft copies makes it easier to penetrate across the regions and the countryside.
“We have also noticed a lot of confidence and willingness by women experts to give their point of view whenever they are approached by journalists, who, in turn have enjoyed the accessibility of the experts. Consequently, they have been very outspoken on topical issues especially those affecting the population,” she added.
As the distribution plan, the directory has been taken to ten regions and key ministries including the ministry of the information, media development institute and other government facilities. Being a live document, EMWA continues to update the site regularly.
“We want to ensure that our voices are heard. And we will continue to ensure that women all over the country can contribute to meaningful debates,” cited Ms Selomen.