UNESCO Launches Women Make the News 2013

On the occasion of International Women’s Day (IWD), 8 March, UNESCO joins forces with international and regional partners to launch the annual Women Make the News (WMN) initiative under the theme, “Towards a Global Alliance on Media and Gender”.

We are inviting editors-in-chief of newspapers, radio, television on and offline to join UNESCO’s initiative, and to produce special supplements/programme on these topics and/or to entrust women journalists and reporters with editorial responsibility for the newsroom for a limited period over the duration of the WMN initiative.

Available on the WMN website are downloadable banners and a logo that can be used to promote this initiative in your organization.

Launched annually on the occasion of the International Women’s Day (8 March), Women Make the News is a global initiative aimed at fixing global attention on an issue relating to gender equality in and through the media, driving debate and encouraging action-oriented solutions until global objectives are met. It is to this end that UNESCO has developed resources such as the Gender-Sensitive Indicators for Media.

This year’s theme is related to the Global Forum on Media and Gender (GFMG) to be held in November 2013. It is our intention to draw attention to the need for a global means, including media partnerships, to follow-up on the gender and media objectives of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

The theme of the United Nations observance of IWD 2013 is “A Promise is a Promise: Time for Action to End Violence Against Women.” This theme will be one of the main topics to be addressed during the Global Forum on Media and Gender. Another key topic will be integrating media in national gender policies and strategies.

Therefore, UNESCO and its partners are also inviting media organizations, professional associations, journalists’ unions, women and men working in the media and civil society to use 8 March to share your thoughts on what could be the possible form of the Global Alliance for Media and Gender, what should it do and priority themes that the GFMG should address.

In addition, share your experiences and best practices in reporting or advocating for the end of violence against women.

• Do national gender policies and strategies exist in your country?
• Are media featured in these policies and strategies?
• What has been the impact of media involvement in these gender policies and strategies?

Kindly submit your contribution to us by 30 March 2013 via this website.

They will contribute to informing UNESCO’s programmes.

Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of International Women’s Day

Some of the best contributions will be featured on the ‘Women Make the News 2013” web page.

Please click on this link to learn more about how you can participate.