FAWE Ghana trains media practitioners on ASRHR and Gender Equality reporting
The three-day workshop, held in Bolgatanga, was organised by the Ghana Chapter of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) under the Sexual Health and Reproductive Education (SHARE) Project.
21 Journalists and Community Information Centre Operators have been equipped with skills to report on Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR) and Gender Equality Advocacy.
The three-day workshop, held in Bolgatanga, was organised by the Ghana Chapter of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), under the Sexual Health and Reproductive Education (SHARE) Project.
The training aimed at helping Journalists to avoid reinforcing gender stereotypes through their reports, and rather advance the course of adolescent reproductive health and rights.
Participants were taken through topics such as:
– Gender-sensitive reporting
– Reporting in crisis situations related to ASRHR and gender equality advocacy
– Protecting and safeguarding the dignity of victims
– Ethics and code of conduct in ASRHR and gender equality advocacy reporting
– The concept of newsworthiness
– The media landscape in Ghana
The training marked the third batch of media practitioners trained in the Upper East Region by FAWE Ghana in 2023 and 2024 under the SHARE project.
At the close of the program, Emmanuel Gazari, Senior Field Officer of FAWE Ghana, emphasized the importance of the training:
“There is no way you can do advocacy without the media; as much as we do the community engagements you need to reach out to more people and the media as the fourth estate will be your voice as an advocate to reach the people,”
“This [training] is very important because when you use the media and they do not articulate these things in the right sense you will be in trouble, for that matter, it is important that whoever is supposed to assist to promote our advocacy should be well trained and understand the whole concept to help achieve the desired result.” Gazari noted.
Kwasi Ghartey Tagoe, a Media Consultant, who facilitated the training, urged participants to utilize the skills acquired and create a niche for themselves in their journalism profession:
“They [ Participants ] should take the skills they have received seriously; in most cases, the general practice of receiving training as a journalist, a general framework is given, but on the field, some journalists can decide to specialize in certain areas; I think that reporting on issues of gender equality and ASRHR is an area journalists can focus on.” He said
Participants described the training as a learning curve that will greatly shape their reporting skills, underscoring the importance of giving priority to ASRHR and Gender Equality issues.
“The program is an eye-opener for me; it has made me sensitive to everything I will churn out in my reports.” Said, Akwata Yaminu, a participant.
Participants were drawn from the Bolgatanga Municipality, Kassena-Nankana Municipality, Kassena-Nankana West District, Bongo District, and Builsa South District.
The SHARE Project
The training was organized under the Sexual Health and Reproductive Education (SHARE) Project, which aims to remove barriers to health-related human rights and improve access to sexual and reproductive education.
The SHARE project is implemented by a consortium including Right To Play, Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), FHI 360, and WaterAid, with funding from the Canada Fund.
In the Upper East Region, the project is being implemented in the Bongo, Builsa North, and the Kassena-Nankana Municipal and West District.
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