Global Forum on Media and Gender

Objectives of the Forum

One of the key outputs of this forum will be to set up a Global Alliance on Media and Gender (GAMG). The purpose of the GAMG is for the media and all other stakeholder groups to stand together for real and sustainable change.

UNESCO and partners will put the spotlight on the need to reduce gender inequalities in media during the Global Forum on Gender and Media being held in Bangkok, Thailand from 2 to 3 December, 2013. The Forum will be an important follow-up to one of the critical areas of concern of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Women and the Media Diagnosis, and its strategic objectives.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEwe) issues will perhaps be the development priority of the next decade or two. This topic will take marked prominence in the Post 2015 MDGs formulation. According to the report of the thematic consultation, Addressing Inequalities - Post 2015 Development Agenda, “Gender-based discrimination and the denial of the rights of women and girls, remains the single most widespread driver of inequalities in today’s world.”

In the area of media and gender, statistics indicate worrying trends in women's representation in media content, staffing and management.

In taking note of these statistics, UNESCO and partners organized this global forum as part of broader and continuing efforts to empower women and reducing gender inequalities, given the potential of both elements to advance economic and social development. The urgency of this event is reflected not just in the timing but also in the issues to be discussed and the calibre of international stakeholders being brought together to build a coalition to push for action to reduce gender inequities in the media.

On-site and remote participation

During this global event, thousands of stakeholders, participating on-site and from remote locations, will lend their voices, intellectual capacity, collective creativity and ingenuity to the development of comprehensive linking-up of efforts to address the following issues:

• Gender-sensitive policies and strategies in media (particularly PSBs, government-controlled media, private, and community radios – including those online)
• Gender mainstreaming in journalism education
• Safety of women journalists online and offline
• Media and information literacy and gender
• Reporting on issues affecting women including gender-based violence, women in conflict and post-conflict situations
• Media, legal and regulatory frameworks and national gender polices/strategies
• Facilitate citizens’ media dialogue on gender equality
• FOE and regional and global trends: the gender dimensions

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted in 1995 by the Fourth World Conference on Women. This international declaration of women’s rights covers twelve critical matters of concern and areas for action. The Global Forum on Media and Gender will be a follow-up to one of the critical areas of concern of the declaration, “Women and the Media” and its strategic objectives:

• Increase the participation and access of women to expression and decision-making in and through the media and new technologies of communication.
• Promote a balanced and non-stereotyped portrayal of women in the media.

>> Download the Declaration

UNESCO Priority Gender Equality : Action Plan

This Action Plan contains all the actions UNESCO is taking to guarantee that its programmes and initiatives contribute actively to the women’s empowerment and gender equality efforts. The communication and information sector is particularly involved in gender equality and aims to promote it in and through the media, as well as via technological applications.

>> Download the Action Plan