Regional Workshop on Gender Sensitive Indicators for Arab States Public Broadcasters

In keeping with its commitment to contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment in and through the media, UNESCO will hold a comprehensive training session for members of the Arab States Broadcasting Union in Amman, Jordan, 30 July – 1 August 2017. The training session will bring together gender focal points from broadcasters around the region with the aim of forming tangible action plans that will assist in putting gender transformative policies in place using the framework of the Gender Sensitive Indicators for Media (GSIMs). Invitees include representatives from the Arabs States Broadcasting Union and the Arab League of States. The training is funded by Sweden and UNESCO.
In keeping with its commitment to contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment in and through the media, UNESCO will hold a comprehensive training session for members of the Arab States Broadcasting Union in Amman, Jordan, 30 July – 1 August 2017. The training session will bring together gender focal points from broadcasters around the region with the aim of forming tangible action plans that will assist in putting gender transformative policies in place using the framework of the Gender Sensitive Indicators for Media (GSIMs). Invitees include representatives from the Arabs States Broadcasting Union and the Arab League of States. The training is funded by Sweden and UNESCO.

The GSIMs are a set of indicators that aim to gauge gender sensitivity in media operations and content. They are designed to assist media organisations in their processes of striving for equality in both the workplace environment and in the media content which they produce. The indicators have at their heart, international instruments and conventions, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
UNESCO’s commitment and strategy for gender equality is well formulated in the “Priority Gender Equality Action Plan 2014 – 2021” stating, “Through the GSIM, UNESCO will encourage media organizations, particularly those which are public service institutions, to address gender inequalities. Empowerment through the media includes action to empower women in and through the media, through enhanced freedom of information, and through the promotion of safety of women journalists, particularly in post-conflict situations”.
The training is in addition to UNESCO's various initiatives that support gender equality, such as the Gender and Media Global Alliance and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Goal 5 ("Gender Equality") and Goal 16.10 ("Guaranteeing Public Access" Information and the protection of fundamental freedoms ").
By the close of the training, participants will be able to recognize the importance of reviewing their organization’s editorial policy and practices to check for gender bias and gender balance in content, as well as implementing action plans that train and equip broadcasters to with the skills to assess their gender representation for senior and technical positions and working conditions in the broadcasting organizations.
The GSIM Arabic version will also be launched at the end of the training, with the express hope that member states and broadcasters, as well as civil society organisations and journalism schools, will take up the GSIMs in the region to promote gender equality in and through the media.