By ESTHER ADENIYI |
Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), a non-governmental organisation that focuses on youth development, has urged media personnel to encourage and support women’s political participation in Nigeria.
The group made this call at a capacity-building training on Gender-Sensitive Reporting for media personnel in Lagos, which was supported by the Women Democracy Network, a women empowerment flagship initiative of the International Republic Institute (IRI) under the Supporting Advancement of Gender Equalityagship women’s empowerment initiative of the International Republic Institute.
Speaking at the training, Team Lead, KDI, Mr Bukola Idowu, expressed concern over the sharp decline in women’s participation in Nigerian politics.
“Democracy is all about inclusion, and equal representation for that matter. When we look at the trajectory at which Nigeria is going and we look at our representation in terms of women, the representation is low.
“We are trying to look at the root cause, and that is what led us to coming up with different strategy to see how we can mitigate this downward trend in terms of women representation,” he said.
Idowu said that the purpose of the training was to develop the skills and knowledge of media personnel on gender-sensitive reporting to promote women’s political leadership.
He explained that journalists are equipped with resources to educate and inform members of society about the roles of women and the benefits of their inclusion in politics and governance, and not to display misconceptions.
“One of the things our team has been able to come up with is seeing what we need to do from the media angle to and to see how we can increase women’s representation in leadership.
“Journalists should create balanced and fair playing grounds in reporting for women to thrive in politics,” he said.
While addressing participants, Executive Director, Media Career Development Network, Mr Lekan Otufodurin emphasised the need for the media to showcase the strengths of women involved in various levels of political participation, without any bias.
According to Otufodunrin, the portrayal of women in politics by media professionals can significantly influence the public perception of their support towards women in the society.
Otufodunrin further encouraged female journalists to lead by example and promote better reporting of women in politics when they have the opportunity to do so.
“How we portray women will either make or mar them in politics in the country. Journalists are trained to be sceptical but end up being cynical,” Otufodunrin added.
The training, which was attended by media personnel including reporters from broadcast, online, and print media, featured interactive sessions and recommendations on increasing women’s political participation through gender-sensitive reporting.
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