In a powerful demonstration of commitment, leading media organisations from East and Southern Africa have signed a landmark declaration pledging their intensified support for advancing gender equality across the region.
In the signed declaration, media representatives affirmed their understanding that media shapes public discourse, influences policy agendas, and holds power to account.
They also acknowledged their profound responsibility to challenge harmful stereotypes, amplify marginalized voices, and report on gender issues with accuracy, sensitivity, and depth.
The media organisations that gathered at the Generation Equality Media and Commitment Makers Forum in Nairobi pledged to ensure the efforts of gender equality players are visible, impactful, and sustained to promote positive social norms, challenge harmful perceptions and break stereotypes.
The forum, a collaborative effort between UN Women Africa, the Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK), the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG), and Nalafem, brought together a diverse group of media professionals and Generation Equality commitment makers.
The Participants, including governments, civil society organisations, youth activists, and private sector representatives from over 14 East and Southern African countries, converged to strategise impactful ways for the media to foster positive social norms, dismantle harmful stereotypes, and champion gender equality.
Speaking during the forum in Nairobi, Director of Media Training and Development at the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) Victor Bwire urged stakeholders to consistently produce quality, timely content that naturally showcases women’s significant contributions across various sectors.
He explained that focusing on impactful stories, regardless of the initial entry point, inherently highlights gender perspectives.
“For instance, when reporting on climate change, the story’s entry point is the environmental impact, but it naturally reveals the gendered dimensions,” said Bwire, adding that let the story’s entry point be the topical issue and its impact naturally reveal the gender dimension.
Regional Director, UN Women East and Southern Africa Anna Mutavati underscored the indispensable role of media. She noted that across Africa, we are facing growing challenges, from the climate emergency and conflict to shrinking civic space, that continue to disproportionately affect women and girls.
“We recognise the critical role of the media in shaping narratives and holding institutions accountable for gender equality and women’s empowerment across East and Southern Africa and beyond,” she said.
She said that unprecedented funding shrinkage, where many women’s organisations are stretched yet still expected to deliver life-saving services, defend rights and support communities.
“In times like these, we must stand together. We must unite our hands, our resources and our expertise, and we count on media partners,” she said, urging a shift from one-off events to sustained partnerships, from isolated stories to systemic narrative change and from reporting on women to reporting with women.
She said that a critical accelerator to all these efforts are multi-stakeholder, multi-level, and intergenerational partnerships, as recently highlighted in the Pact for the Future and in the regional reviews of progress against the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
On her part, Executive Director of AMWIK Queenter Mbori said by embracing the media’s role in shaping narratives, challenging biases, and amplifying the voices of change-makers, media organisations are laying the groundwork for sustained transformation across the region.
“Our aim is to move beyond intermittent coverage to sustained, impactful storytelling,” Mbori said, adding that this year offers a critical opportunity to evaluate progress, address ongoing challenges, and renew actionable commitments.
She said that the unified commitment demonstrated by media leaders in East and Southern Africa is a powerful declaration of intent to forge a future where gender equality is not just an aspiration but a lived reality.
“We laud all media representatives who have signed the declaration to ensure gender-sensitive reporting, because with every story of progress told, we move one step closer to achieving equality,” she said.
This forum and the signed declarations arrive at a pivotal moment. The year 2025 marks a landmark year for gender equality, commemorating significant milestones: the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action the most comprehensive and visionary agenda for advancing gender equality and the rights of all women and girls;
Also, this year marks 25 years since the establishment of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, recognising the critical role of women in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and 15 years since the establishment of UN Women, created to accelerate progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment globally.
Representatives from the signatory media organisations committed to a series of concrete actions: advancing gender-sensitive reporting, developing dedicated gender equality editorial policies, amplifying the crucial work and voices of Generation Equality Commitment Makers, and diligently monitoring and evaluating progress made in advancing gender equality through the media.
By Anita Omwenga
