Back Study visit of journalists from the MENA region to Tunis: lively debate on women's rights and gender representations in the media

Study visit of journalists from the MENA region to Tunis: lively debate on women's rights and gender representations in the media

In the framework of the South Programme III, the Council of Europe organised, in partnership with the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), a study visit and networking meeting for media professionals and representatives of journalists' unions in the Maghreb-Mashreq region, namely from Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Lebanon, to raise their awareness and in particular to strengthen their capacities to produce ethical journalistic content and media treatment against stereotypes to best respond to the various challenges imposed by their respective contexts.

To that end, leading local and international experts facilitated technical training sessions, which took place during the five days of the visit, to highlight the different local legal frameworks governing press freedom and ethical charters as well as the Council of Europe mechanisms and instruments that prohibit all forms of discrimination and violence against women in the field, in the media and on the Internet. In particular, visiting journalists were sensitised to the importance of adopting self-regulatory mechanisms and internal codes of conduct to promote the equal representation of women and men in newsrooms, media leadership positions and in regulatory and self-regulatory bodies. In this regard, the journalists' delegation had the opportunity to observe closely the working methods and self-regulatory practices of some media institutions in Tunisia such as the SNJT, the High Independent Authority of the Audiovisual Commission (HAICA), the national public television Watanya TV, and the private Radio Mosaïque FM.

Drawing on the Tunisian experience and to support efforts to enable effective regional collaboration in the fight against sexist discourse in media and electronic platforms in the MENA region, participants issued a list of recommendations calling for:

  • Intensifying advocacy efforts to update laws and legislations, to make them more democratic them and adapt them using gender approaches;
  • Targeting selected MENA countries with more awareness-raising campaigns, training workshops and communication and capacity building interventions for stakeholders;
  • Activating the role of trade unions, professional bodies and stakeholders involved in media education to best defend professional and quality content, women's rights, prevention of hate speech and sexist discourse and equal visibility of women and men.

 

Photo gallery of the event

 

The South Programme III is a joint programme of the Council of Europe and the European Union, financed by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.

Tunis 27-31 January 2020
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