BANGKOK, 27 November 2013 – Shut out
and stereotyped – for many women in the Asia-Pacific region this is the reality
when it comes to positions of power within mass media outlets and the way they
are portrayed through them.
In Asia and Oceania, men in the media
outnumber women by 4:1, according to the most recent Global Report on the
Status of Women in the News Media. The report characterizes women’s
representation in decision-making roles in the media as “miniscule”.
While some progress has been made,
gender disparities remain stark and stereotyping the norm in regional media.
Successes are often isolated and lack the concerted international push
necessary to have a meaningful impact on mainstream media practices.
The first ever Global Forum on Media
and Gender (GFMG) from 2-4 December in Bangkok aims to lay the foundation
for an international alliance dedicated to righting this imbalance by combating
gender stereotypes and ensuring women have a say at the top level of media
operations.
Over 400 participants are expected to
attend the inaugural forum, including representatives from broadcast and print
media, journalist unions, universities and journalism training institutions,
civil society groups, governments, and development agencies.
The GFMG will provide an unprecedented
opportunity for these groups to discuss and debate the factors perpetuating
gender inequality in the media. Localized successes in empowering women through
media – community radio in some Asia-Pacific countries, for example – will also
be spotlighted, with the focus on capitalizing on this momentum for wider, more
impactful change.
The keynote speech will be delivered by
Kalpana Sharma, a prominent Mumbai journalist and columnist who has chronicled
the challenges women face in the media extensively in her works.
The GFMG follows up on the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the UN Fourth World Conference
on Women in 1995, which stressed the need for women to have increased access to
expression and decision-making through media and for an end to gender
stereotyping.
Results from this landmark Global Forum
on Media and Gender will feed into the next planned Global Conference on Women,
which the United Nations plans to hold in 2015.
The Bangkok forum will kick off a wider
global movement in the form of the Global Alliance for Media and Gender, which
will be linked to events around occasions such as World Radio Day and Women
Make the News, 2014.
The Event: UNESCO Global Forum
on Media and Gender
When: 2-4 December, 2013
Where: Imperial Queen’s Park
Hotel, 199 Sukhumvit Soi 22, Bangkok
Hotel Phone: +66 (0) 2261-9000
Hotel Website: www.imperialhotels.com/imperialqueenspark/
For further information and press
queries, please contact:
Mr Noel Boivin, Media and Communications Officer, UNESCO Bangkok (email: n.boivin@unesco.org)
Mr Noel Boivin, Media and Communications Officer, UNESCO Bangkok (email: n.boivin@unesco.org)
Draft Programme:
The forum will be streamed live at: www.webtvthaipbs.com
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