Proposal

Context
Women are underrepresented in Arabic and Turkish media: only 10-20% of the people
in the news are women. Topics important for women are not covered by media or is
presented in a very stereotypical way, focusing on children and the household. There is
therefore a clear need for a space for women to express themselves and access
information relevant to them, which is hard to find in the mainstream media.

Overall objective
Through establishing online platforms for women, the aim is to enhance the voice of
women in the media, to strengthen the female voice in the public and media domain and
empower female journalists in their professional capacities.

This should not only result in an increased representation of women and their stories in
the media, but also show that women are an interesting target audience for advertisers.

Intended outcomes
1. Strengthened female voice in the public and media domain: a stronger reach, both
quantitatively as well as qualitatively, of the female perspective in the press and public
debate in the three countries through a women-led innovative and secure media outlet.
2. Empowered female journalists in their professional capacities: by securing a free
and unchallenged media environment, training and support, the capacity of female
journalists will be enhanced.

Activities
 Setting up three media outlet, allowing for the distribution of content
 Supporting a strong, advanced journalist sector with skilled staff, focusing on women
journalists and network establishment. This includes:
 Training staff and editors of the platform
 Training reporters in investigative journalism and gender-sensitive reporting
 Basic journalism training for citizen journalists.
 Creating audience participation for active and interactive reading or viewing through a
strong marketing strategy.

Achieved outputs
 3 Online platforms were established: one in each country
 A total of 3,757 publications were published
 A total of 142,713 page views were registered for the platforms
 A total of 129,270 likes were gained on Facebook
 In total 725,793 followers of the platforms and social media engaged with the content
through (moderated) discussions and content-sharing
 A total of 15 editors/staff were trained
 A total of 101 (citizen) journalists were trained

Achieved outcomes
Outcome 1 – Strengthened female voice in the public and media domain:

 In Turkey, the online platform has become the mouthpiece of the organization, which is
striving to reach gender equality mainly through advocacy. It served as an effective tool
for advocacy. The main success lies in raising awareness on gender equality and in
specific women rights. Furthermore, it contributed to improving the female perspective
in the public and media domain, by using gender-sensitive language and describing
situations form the perspective of patriarchal norms and values.
 In Iraq, the female perspective in the public domain was strengthened by providing
female journalists with a platform to voice their opinions on topics which are important to
women, and for which there is usually no time and space in traditional Iraqi press
rooms. A high number of articles were written on women’s rights and their overall
position and role of women in the conservative society, such as their financial well-
being.
 In the last country, the project achieved an improved female perspective and more
emancipated image of women amongst (male and female) media consumers,
stimulating debate and discussion in the public sphere. This was done through a focus
on audience participation on the website and Facebook page, presenting a positive and
powerful female voice and report about women breaking taboos and challenging
stereotypes

Outcome 2 – Empowered female journalists in their professional capacities:

 In Turkey, many of the women that were involved in the project experienced a feeling of
empowerment and have become more active in their communities and started to
engage in public life (in a country where it is not a norm for women to actively involve
themselves in public life.
 In Iraq, the project provided female journalists with a network of like-minded colleagues
and they were able to develop their skills in writing for an online media. The project has
provided the female editors with an opportunity to continuously improve their
professional skills and a safe working environment where they feel supported and
empowered.
 In the third country, the journalists trained have not only improved their skills, but also
have been introduced to a bigger network of reporters. They are contributing to
strengthening the female voice in the public media domain and are loyal group of
followers of the platform and strong advocates for women’s rights.

Achieved impact
The impact of the project lies in different campaigns and articles by the established
platforms. For example, in Iraq a returning topic on the platform was the position of
internally displaced women and refugees. The challenges they face were consistently
addressed resulting in advocacy for the improvement of food distributions in IDP camps
and for the continuation of girl’s education. The platform also contributed to a campaign
for the rights of female prisoners, holding authorities and prison management
accountable for the well-being of female prisoners, once they were allowed to leave.
This resulted in a response from the relevant institutions to find a solution.

In Turkey, the platform was a place for large campaigns, for example campaigns for
transgender rights and laws that use gender-neutral language.

In the third country, stories were published about women breaking taboos and
challenging stereotypes. For example by publishing stories on women working in ‘male
professions’, a more emancipated image of women among media consumers was
promoted, as well as stimulating debate and discussion in the public sphere. The
platform has a clear name and brand and is regarded as the go-to organisation in this
country on gender-related news.

Role of FPU
Free Press Unlimited initiated and coordinated the project. The organisation connected
the organisations in three countries with each other. Two of the platforms continued
receiving support from Free Press Unlimited after the Mrs. project ended.

Lessons learned / Challenges

The active engagement and participation of renowned journalists turned out to be more
successful than the participation of citizen journalists. It was found that safety concerns
as well as the family and social context inhibited women citizen journalists to speak
freely and further participate in the platforms. In one of the countries, the priority and
focus has been put on stories being written by the editorial team as to ensure the
needed editorial quality to have a stronger quantitative reach.

The use of social media channels was crucial in promoting disucssions and open
debates amongst readers.
Irregular and weak communication with partners (partly due to staff changes) has led to
insufficient response to emerging needs that arose throughout the project
implementation, including training and coaching and security needs.

Project Title: Strengthening Grassroots Women’s Groups to Promote and Protect Civic Space in Uganda
Implementing Agency: Local All in One Womens Association https://www.alowa.or.ug/ This organization
was founded in 2004 to increase rural women’s participation in political and decision-making processes.
It has partnered with the umbrella Uganda Women’s Network and received funding from CIVICUS, Hivos
and Urgent Action Fund-Africa. This is its first UNDEF application. Issue being addressed and solutions
offered: The project proposes to use training, networking and organizational capacity building to
empower 6,000 rural women and 100 grassroots women’s groups to participate in and influence
political, economic, and social decision-making that affects women’s lives, and to promote and protect
space for civic engagement. The project would similarly strengthen the capacity of women’s human-
rights defenders, legal committees and District NGO Monitoring Committees, and set up legal-services
teams to help women’s groups in rural, upcountry locations to produce the documentation needed to
become registered organizations. The project is highly relevant in the Covid-19 world and its aftermath,
where it will be essential to address the massive impact of the crisis on women, ensuring that responses
uphold their rights and are inclusive of their needs. This includes the need to address the surge in
domestic violence amid lockdowns, quarantines and economic and social pressures.

Project Title: Protecting Media Freedoms in the Digital Era in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia Implementing
Agency: Local Article 19 Mena http://www.aihr-iadh.org/ar/ Established in 2012, this organization
promotes the freedom of speech and public access to information. It has collaborated with or received
funding from, among others, the Governments of Canada and the United Kingdom, European Union, US
National Endowment for Democracy, World Bank and Open Society Foundations. Issue being addressed
and solutions offered: The project proposes to strengthen online media in two ways. Using training and
networking within and between countries, it would support media outlets, professionals and
associations to advance the right to information and free speech as ongoing media convergence changes
old ways of working and standards of conduct. The project further proposes to use multi-stakeholder
workshops to build media capacity to produce content that reflects values of freedom, equality and
social responsibility as laid out by UN human rights mechanisms. The project is highly relevant in the
Covid-19 world and its aftermath, where freedom of information, media literacy and online safety will
be crucial.

Project Title: Strengthening Independent Media in the Arab Region Implementing Agency: Local
Journalists for Human Rights https://jhr.ca/ Founded in 2002, this organization builds media capacity to
promote democracy and better governance by covering human rights issues and abuses. It has trained
some 16,500 journalists in 29 countries in postconflict Africa, the Middle East, and indigenous
communities in Canada with financial support from Global Affairs Canada, DFID UK, the US National
Endowment for Democracy and State Department and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It has
received six prior UNDEF grants, in 2007 and 2009 in Sierra Leone, 2012 in South Sudan, 2013 in Jordan,
2016 in Syria and 2018 in Mali. Issue being addressed and solutions offered: This is a four-year project,
one of four longer, strategic projects UNDEF is piloting for the first time in this Round, as normally,
UNDEF projects are two years long. The project proposes to strengthen the capacity of media, especially
independent outlets, to address poor governance, minority underrepresentation and weak public voice
and participation. Using training and peer-learning techniques, the project proposes to enhance the
capacity of full-time and freelance journalists to produce investigative human-rights journalism based on
data and facts including information and knowledge generated by citizen journalists. The project further
proposes to strengthen the abilities of media managers, editors and senior journalists to lead their
organizations in a planned and sustained manner, and to improve networking and collaboration across
media. The project is highly relevant in the Covid-19 world and its aftermath, where freedom of
information, media literacy and online safety will be crucial.

Project Title: Strengthening Citizen Journalism to Counter Hate Speech and Violent Extremism in Tunisia
Implementing Agency: Local Arab Institute for Human Rights http://www.aihr-iadh.org/ar/ Established
in 1989, this organization uses human rights education to influence policymaking, strengthen media and
advance civic participation and voice. It has observer or consultative status with ECOSOC and several
UN, regional, and national human rights bodies and in 1992 received a UNESCO prize for teaching
human rights. Its board includes members from UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCHR, UNHCR and UNICEF,
with which it also has a long-term agreement to provide civic education in the MENA region. It received
an UNDEF grant in 2014 to strengthen journalists’ and bloggers’ capacity to promote human rights. Issue
being addressed and solutions offered: The project proposes to strengthen the capacity of some 120
citizen journalists and media representatives to investigate and promote human rights and oppose hate
speech and violent extremism. It would conduct trainings on human rights principles and mechanisms,
legislation governing the freedom of information and expression, professional skills and the technical
and security constraints confronting journalists. The project further proposes to develop training
material specifically on hate speech and violent extremism, and to provide online mentoring as well as
specialized on-site support to develop blogs, television and radio programs and social media content to
advance human rights and non-violence. To further encourage this work, it would award prizes for the
best media productions. The project is highly relevant in the Covid-19 world and its aftermath, where
the fight against disinformation and for freedom of information, media literacy and online safety will be
crucial.

Project Title: ‘Fighting Like a Girl’ to Build Gender-Sensitive Media in Kyrgyzstan Implementing Agency:
Local International Debate Education Association in Central Asia https://ideaca.today/en Established in
2013, this organization and former Open Society youth initiative works with youth to develop and
promote media literacy, critical thinking, public speaking, civic activism and participatory research. Its
aim is to empower young people to play an equal part in community and civic affairs. It has collaborated
with or received support from UNFPA, UNICEF, Open Society Foundations and the US National
Endowment for Democracy. Issue being addressed and solutions offered: The project proposes to create
the first media platform that ensures a safe and fulfilling work environment for experienced and aspiring
media women, one in which they can learn from each other and produce gender-sensitive content that
challenges patriarchal norms. ‘Fight Like A Girl’ media camps would be set up to enable young women to
explore media careers and to develop the technical and business skills needed to succeed in multimedia
storytelling. Graduates of the media camps would be organized as gender media activists and would
launch a media collective producing local-language content on critical issues confronting women and
their communities. As they move on to new positions these women would encourage subsequent
generations to follow suit, turning the collective into a permanent media platform. The project is highly
relevant in the Covid-19 world and its aftermath, where the fight against disinformation and for freedom
of information, media literacy and online safety will be crucial; and where it will be essential to advance
understanding of the specific impact of the crisis on women, ensuring that responses uphold their rights
and are inclusive of their needs

Issue being addressed and solutions offered: This project would focus on building the capacity of media
and civil society to increase public debate and strengthen democratic governance – particularly in
marginalized rural areas. Media professional’s skills in investigation, research and analysis would be
strengthened utilizing training and networking approaches. The project further proposes to build civil
society organizations’ capacity for digital communication and advocacy, and to enhance collaboration
between media and civil society to scrutinize governance institutions and duty-bearers. The project is
highly relevant in the Covid-19 world and its aftermath, where the fight against disinformation and for
freedom of information, media literacy and online safety will be crucial.

Issue being addressed and solutions offered: Citizen journalism has become a driving force of civic
participation and social change, especially amid distrust of a polarized or sensationalist traditional
media. Its contribution to an open society is constrained by a lack of professional skills pertaining to
ethics as well as information-gathering. The project proposes to improve the quality of citizen journalism
by training practitioners in ethics, professional standards, and tools. It would seek to increase the use
and presentation of verified information by training citizen journalists on the availability of and ways to
access authoritative and official data, for example on public finances and budgets. The project further
proposes to improve and expand legal protection for citizen journalists through consultations and
strategic litigation. The project has been designed against the backdrop of a new media law currently in
development that would apply to traditional and citizen journalists. It would seek to help shape the
legislation and help citizen journalists to comply with it. The project is highly relevant in the Covid-19
world and its aftermath, where the fight against disinformation and for freedom of information, media
literacy and online safety will be crucial.
Issue being addressed and solutions offered: The project will work to strengthen the legislative
framework to increase the safety of journalists and to promote free and independent reporting. In this
regard the project proposes to advance new legislation to protect journalists and to repeal criminal and
civil regulations that restrict press freedom. It would provide legal advice to journalists and engage in
strategic litigation to further these aims. The project is highly relevant in the Covid-19 world and its
aftermath, where the fight against disinformation and for freedom of information, media literacy and
online safety will be crucial.

Challenges of Somali Women Journalists

“For too long, Somali women journalists have been treated as second
class citizens and Somali news has ignored the stories and voices of
half the population; now we are in charge of the boardroom and the
narrative,” said Nasrin Mohamed Ibraham, who is taking up the post of
Bilan’s Chief Editor. “Some people might not like the fact that I play
football and lead a media team. But nobody will ever change my
mind.”

“As a women-only media house we are going to be able to bring taboo

subjects into the open. Our sisters, mothers and grandmothers will talk
to us about issues they never dare speak about with men,” said Fathi
Mohamed Ahmed, Bilan's Deputy Editor.

In interviews conducted by UNDP over the last six months, women

journalists have reported being harassed not just on the streets but
even inside their own offices. They are often denied training
opportunities and promotions, and when a woman does reach a
position of authority, she is often ignored while more junior figures get
to call the shots. News coverage reflects this, with a lack of
programming on issues that are seen as primarily affecting women,
including childcare, domestic abuse and equal political representation.
“We hope this will be a game changer for the Somali media scene,
opening up new opportunities for women journalists and shining a light
on new subjects that have been ignored, particularly those that are
important for women,” said Jocelyn Mason, UNDP’s Resident
Representative in Mogadishu.

UNDP will also provide a long-term programme of training and

mentoring, bringing in some of the biggest names in Somali and
international journalism, including the BBC’s Lyse Doucet and Razia
Iqbal, Channel 4’s Lyndsey Hilsum and Al Jazeera’s Mohammed
Adow, as well as creating opportunities to engage with women
journalists working in similarly challenging environments around the
world to exchange ideas and offer mutual support.

“I believe Bilan will be a game-changer for me and for women in

Somalia. I hope it will give us the freedom and safety to do a different
kind of journalism beyond the usual diet of politics and conflict,” said
Bilan's journalist Naciima Saed Salah.

“Even though I am young, I am ready to leave my family in Baidoa and

move to Mogadishu to work for Bilan. I want to highlight the problems
women face in my region, especially in terms of political
representation,” said journalist Shukri Mohamed Abdi.

To develop the next generation of Somali women journalists, the unit

will offer six-month internship opportunities for the best final-year
women journalism students at two universities in Mogadishu.

The first all-women media house in Somalia has been launched, creating a

rare opportunity for female journalists in the country to research and publish
stories they want to tell.

Led by one of the few female senior news producers in the country, the team of
six will produce content for TV, radio and online media on issues such as
gender-based violence, women in politics and female entrepreneurs.
Crucially, they will have the autonomy to make editorial decisions.

“We want to cover these issues and challenge societal beliefs that women
should stay at home,” said the editor-in-chief, Nasrin Mohamed Ibrahim, who
has worked as a journalist for 12 years and is a founding member of the Somali
Women Journalist Organisation.

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Women working in the media in Somalia face multiple challenges, from being
ignored and denied promotions to bullying and sexually harassment. “Men
think you should come in, read the news and go home,” said Ibrahim, 27.

Bilan’s deputy editor, Fathi Mohamed Ahmed , 25, said sexual harassment was
rife in the media sector and she has had to develop tactics to ward off advances
from male colleagues. “The biggest challenge facing female journalists in
Somalia is abuse, especially from male journalists,” she said. “They offer to
help you but only if you give them something in return.”

Ahmed added: “Men have said things to me like, ‘you’re beautiful, I like your
body’, and it was only when I said I was engaged that they stopped.”

Women are expected to keep their mouths shut here in Somalia. But not any
more
Read more

Bilan, which means bright and clear in Somali, will be based in the capital,
Mogadishu, at Dalsan Media Group, one of the country’s largest media
organisations. It will publish news and features, and provide training and
mentorship from established Somali and international journalists, including
the BBC’s Lyse Doucet and Razia Iqbal, Channel 4’s Lyndsey Hilsum and
Mohammed Adow at Al Jazeera. Six-month internships will be offered to the
best final-year female journalism students at two universities in Mogadishu.

Funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the project

is a year-long pilot, but Jocelyn Mason, UNDP’s resident representative in
Mogadishu, is confident it will become a permanent set-up, and may also be
extended into Somalia’s regions. “We hope this will be a gamechanger for the
Somali media scene, opening up new opportunities for women journalists and
shining a light on subjects that have been ignored, particularly those that are
important for women,” said Mason.

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The team at Bilan includes a woman who is leaving her family for the first time
to work in Mogadishu. “I come from a rural clan which does not want any of
its members to become journalists, especially young women,” said Shukri
Mohamed Abdi. “We come from the bush, where the concept of being a
journalist does not exist.”

Another member of the team, Kiin Hasan Fakat, grew up in one of the
three Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya. She hopes Bilan will provide a safe and
inspiring environment for women to tell their stories. “Ask any Somali who
they depend on. They will always say ‘my mother’. Everything in Somalia
depends on women – the economy, the home, the children, the family.”

 This article was amended on 11 April 2022 to correct Nasrin Mohamed

Ibrahim’s name

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