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Gender and World Press Freedom Day


“Sexual and Gender Based Violence (GBV) has now become the number two scourge in the country after HIV/AIDs”


These are the words used by Zambian president Rupiah Banda while launching the National Communications Strategy against Gender Based Violence late last year.


The president reiterated the government’s efforts to declare zero tolerance on GBV and perpetrators terming it gross human rights’ violations.


During this year’s World Press Freedom Day media stakeholders’ conference in Zambia, the non Governmental organization Co-ordinating Council (NGOCC) chairperson Mrs. Ngwase Mwale said GBV was one issue affecting women, and called for the media to assist women organization in advocating for the enactment of the GBV draft bill.


Currently, Zambia has no law that criminalizes gender based violence, with a draft in place waiting to be tabled.


Mrs. Mwale said advocacy issues were very sensitive and there was need for the media to assist in raising them. “Women face a lot of sensitive issues and challenges in their daily lives yet the media does not report much on them,” she said.


Speaking at the same place, the NGOCC Communications and Advocacy Co-ordinator , Mrs. Leah Mitaba says quite a number of issues affecting women remained in the dark yet the media had forgotten their role of informing the society.


In her presentation entitled, Gender and Media Ethics, Mrs. Mitaba said the media had the responsibility of informing the public on various gender issues yet it had concentrated so much on other issues.


She said the power of the media in informing the public could not be underestimated adding that the fourth estate played a major key role in the development of the country.


Referring to this year’s press freedom day theme, The Right to Know: Access to Information, she said every citizen had the right to know what was happening around them, adding that women were the majority and needed to be informed on issues affecting them to place them in a better position to play a role in development.


“When women are aware of what is happening around them, it places them in a better position to play a key role in the development of any country,” she said.


Mrs. Mitaba informed the stakeholders that NGOCC had called on the government to appreciate the need for a free and self regulated media, adding that a free press was effective in placing checks and balances on the media.


She advised the media fraternity in the country to continue fighting for self regulation and urged them to dedicate more space to covering social- economic issues on gender.


The NGOCC is an umbrella of non- governmental organizations in Zambia, facilitating the networking of NGOs with an effort to empower the women to realize and utilize their full cultural, social, economic and political potential


The co-ordinator also called on the media to encourage potential women candidates during the fourth coming 2011 general elections, to take up posts, adding that there was need to encourage more in-depth reporting and follow up on issues affecting women like the gender based violence.


This she said could be done by joining women in their advocacy for the enactment of such bills as the Gender based violence bill.


And answering to questions from journalists on why women organizations were not vocal enough in their advocacy skills, Mrs. Mwale said there are many issues that go unreported making it impossible for them to follow up.


She called on the media to assist them in advocating for the bills that could protect the interests of the women in the society.


Earlier on, Miss Wilkie Sampa,a representative from Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Namibia regional office, had alleged that most women were organizations did not like dealing with serious issues affecting them. She added that they (women organizations) tend to be reactive and always seem to be on the soft side.


She called on all women to stand up and always be at the far front in ensuring issues affecting them were addressed by the respective governments.


Meanwhile, during the World Press Freedom Day celebrations, the Post newspaper editor Miss Chansa Kabwela worn the two awards, i.e. Most Courageous Journalist of the year 2009 award, that motivates journalists who persevere in their duties to expose wrongs in the society and The press Freedom Award that honors journalists who risk their lives in trying to access information.


In her speech after receiving the awards, Miss Kabwela encouraged media fraternity to keep up the good fight adding that they had a key role in the society

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