The Global Alliance for Partnerships on Media and Information
Literacy (GAPMIL) celebrates International Women’s Day as an opportunity to
recognize the role of MIL in enhancing gender equality and promoting the rights
of women.
GAPMIL is committed to supporting women, children and youth in
their efforts to engage in meaningful participation in our world which is
driven by information, media and technology which are male dominated.
GAPMIL shares in UNESCO’s acknowledgement of this day as an
opportunity to reflect on progress that has been made, challenges that still
remain, and to celebrate the “extraordinary work of ordinary women” in their
countries and communities.
International Women’s
Day is a chance to reflect on the need to increase the
participation and access of women to expression and decision-making in and
through the media and new media technologies.
Advances in media and information technology in
the last decade have facilitated a global communications network and process that have both positive and negative impacts on women and young girls. Everywhere, the potential
exists for the media to make a far greater contribution to the advancement of
women, yet many roadblocks exist for women and young
girls.
Today, more women are involved in
careers in the media, information and communications sector, but few have
attained positions at the decision-making level. Gender sensitivity in the
media remains a major challenge.
MIL is concerned with supporting women and girls to become active
citizens as they navigate the plethora of information and media messages that
they encounter, and as they explore the potential positive and negative aspects
of information and media content.
When
we consider the continued projection of negative and degrading
images of women in media communications – electronic, print, visual and audio –
and
communication available today, we also recognize the important role MIL plays
in education and in critical thinking about the representations of women in the
media.
Media and information literacy competencies and access to media
and information technology are all important
to ensure women’s and girl’s full-fledged development and participation in
inclusive and just societies where equality is the norm rather than the
exception.
GAPMIL encourages youth
media initiatives to focus on girls. Considering the power of media to shape
the public’s cultural perceptions with stories and images, media and communication
initiatives that focus on girls can be used to help girls develop skills that
empower them. Such gender-focused youth media organizations can highlight
girls’ developmental skills with gender specific programmess which can help
girls construct images and stories that reveal their unique voices.
Around
the world, little attention is paid to the coverage of women in the media. MIL
can fill the gap to enhance women’s presence and participation in the media. GAPMIL realizes the crucial role in supporting
women media professionals, in creating alternative media spaces for the
expression of women’s perspectives on the world, and in critiquing offensive or
stereotypical media content.
GAPMIL
believes that women should be empowered by enhancing their skills, knowledge
and access to information technology. This will strengthen their ability to
combat negative portrayals of women.
We support women's education, training and employment to promote and ensure women's equal access to all areas and levels of the media; research into all aspects of women and the media and encourage the development of educational and training programmes, including media and information literacy projects for girls
We urge all MIL supporters around the world to use the occasion of
International Women’s Day to help young women and girls acquire MIL
competencies, and to celebrate the contributions and achievements of women
working in MIL-related fields. At the
level of GAPMIL, we shall continue to pursue programmes and initiatives that
put the Media and Information Literacy competencies at the forefront of global
discourse.
Note:
GAPMIL was launched in June
2013 in Abuja, Nigeria, by UNESCO, UNAOC, and other partners, during the Global
Forum for Partnerships on MIL, incorporating the International Conference on
MIL and Intercultural Dialogue.
It aims to promote media
and information literacy (MIL) as a means to open and inclusive development.
For more information on GAPMIL, please visit: http://www.unesco.org/new/.../gapmil_framework_and_action_plan
Signed
GAPMIL, International Steering Committee
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