| dc.description.abstract | In 1995, during the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, all governments met to discuss gender
equality issues. The key potential of media to promote gender equality and diversity in all spheres was
highlighted in the Declaration and Platform for Action. All stakeholders are called to join forces to combat
“stereotyping of women and inequality in women’s access to and participation in all communication systems, especially in the media”. Even long before the Beijing Declaration, gender equality was enshrined in
the UN Charter in 1945.
Today, there is consensus among all UN Agencies and other organizations that progress has been slow,
fragmented, needs to be intensified, and lacks the strength of a global movement.
UNESCO acts across the world to ensure that women and men benefit equally from freedom of expression
as a basic human right. We seek to address obstacles such as: Imbalanced access to information and
knowledge, media and technology, under-representation of women in the staffing of media at all levels
including executives and positions on Boards, insufficient media coverage of gender issues, the prevalence of stereotypical media content and information regarding gender, as well as violence against women
journalists and women.
UNESCO’s strategy is pursued through a two-fold approach: (i) gender-specific programmes, and (ii)
gender mainstreaming with action in all of UNESCO’s fields of competence: education, the sciences,
culture, and communication and information. This includes interventions concerning policy development,
awareness raising and advocacy, and research, institutional capacity building, and training.
In December 2013, UNESCO and partners gathered media organizations, media professionals, academics,
policy-makers, civil society groups, and development agencies in Bangkok for a Global Forum on Media
and Gender. The Forum took the 1995 Beijing Declaration as its reference point and resulted in the setting-up of a pioneering Global Alliance on Media and Gender (GAMAG). The aim of GAMAG has two main
dimensions: Firstly, it will ensure constructive dialogue between media partners and civil society; secondly,
it will enable all stakeholders to collectively give momentum to women’s access to expression and decision-making by promoting a gender-inclusive media and communication environment.
The actions and successes of GAMAG should be evidence-based. There is a necessity to show some of
the most significant scholarly contributions to knowledge and action towards expanding women’s participation in all communication platforms. In addition, the publication proposes a pragmatic research agenda
for the GAMAG, looking back, building on the past and looking to the future.
This volume is divided into four main sections: 1) Gender-based violence, media and information; 2) Women’s
access to media; 3) Gender and media policy and strategies; 4) Gender, education, and media and information literacy. The authors are all experts on the advancement of gender equality. Moreover, they have been
involved in both scholarly and advocacy actions with visible impact at global, regional and national levels.
UNESCO is pleased to have cooperated with the International Association of Communication Researchers
in the preparation of this publication.
The potential exists for the media to make a far greater contribution to the advancement of women.
Women should be empowered by enhancing their skills, knowledge and access to media and information
technology. All obstacles to women’s equal opportunity to exercise leadership in the media should be
unearthed and removed.
UNESCO hopes that this publication will contribute to existing body of knowledge on the topic and will be
useful for all stakeholders. The involvement of media and journalism education institutions must interface
with that of media organizations, media professionals, policy-makers, and civil society groups for us to
achieve gender equality in and through media. | en_US |
