1. THE SADC GENDER PROTOCOL SUMMIT 2015
Botswana, Tlotlo Hotel , 11 August 2015,
Maclan Kanyang’wa
Department of Journalism and Media Studies
UNIVERSITY OF MALAWI-THE POLYTECHNIC
PLEASE USE PHOTOGRAPHS, QUOTES AND ANY OTHER VISUALS YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR PRESENTATION MORE ENGAGING.
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

2. 50/50 BY 2015: DEMANDING A STRONG POST 2015 AGENDA
SYNOPSIS
August 2010
The Department of Journalism and Media Studies (JMS) at The Polytechnic (UNIMA) participates in the GIME Southern Africa (GIME) audit which reveals that
there are no institutional policies, guidelines or procedures for incorporating gender into curriculum or course content in our system.
There are no stand alone policies on sexual harassment
Very little research focussing on gender
Men are teachers females are students
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST
50/50 BY 2015: DEMANDING A STRONG POST 2015 AGENDA

3. 50/50 BY 2015: DEMANDING A STRONG POST 2015 AGENDA
SYNOPSIS August 2015
Revised curriculum with gender and child rights as rationale for review
UNIMA forms a gender policy task force
Digital resource base is created on diversity issues
Gender and Media research profile
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST
50/50 BY 2015: DEMANDING A STRONG POST 2015 AGENDA

4. 50/50 BY 2015: DEMANDING A STRONG POST 2015 AGENDA
OBJECTIVES
To mainstream gender into the programme document (syllabus) at the next curriculum review.
(that opportunity came 2014/15)
Lobby for the development of a stand alone gender policy
To increase the involvement of female students/journalists in curriculum activities.
To match the number of male to female lecturers at the earliest opportunity.
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST
50/50 BY 2015: DEMANDING A STRONG POST 2015 AGENDA

5. 50/50 BY 2015: DEMANDING A STRONG POST 2015 AGENDA
OBJECTIVES
To set an agenda for gender and media research within the department
To build a resource base to support students and staff research on gender and media related subjects
Increase the critical mass of practicing journalists who are gender-aware
Intervene in national women empowerment programmes through leadership
50/50 BY 2015: DEMANDING A STRONG POST 2015 AGENDA
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

6. KEY ACTIVITIES
 Establishing entry points for gender in the BAJ curriculum. This workshop took place in January 2011
Development of course outlines with gender content (January 2011)
Development of a Departmental Monitoring and Evaluation Framework with Gender specific targets for staff (teaching and assessment)and students activities (outreach and club programmes) (2014)
Review of the curriculum to include gender specific content in the curriculum document (October 2014)
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

7. KEY ACTIVITIES
Establishment of a digital library to support teaching with links to diverse material on gender
Student research activities on Gender and the Media. The 2014/15 final year class had 15 of the 36 students researching a gender topic. These students were sponsored by the Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre
The 2014/15 departmental plan of activities had weekly student activities with child rights and gender among other cross cutting issues among the indicators and targets
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

8. 50/50 BY 2015: DEMANDING A STRONG POST 2015 AGENDA
RESOURCE ALLOCATIONS
Amount local currency (specify)
Amount in Rand
Gender specific allocation
Gender in mainstream projects (please specify)
Amount contributed in cash or in kind by partner organisations (please specify)
 K6,
 15000
TOTAL
15000
The university has invested funds in the gender policy formulation by facilitating situation analysis, meetings and workshops. The policy task force is funded at University level. The figures are not available for this presentation
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST
50/50 BY 2015: DEMANDING A STRONG POST 2015 AGENDA

9. CHALLENGES
Bureaucracy as a result of the federal nature of the university leading to slow processes in curriculum approvals and implementation
Altitude among some members-at times even female members of staff towards implementation
Irregular calendars leading to loss of momentum
Competing interests piling pressure on the curriculum
Overcome by diversifying programme offering
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

10. RESULTS Changes in attitudes
Increased number of faculty members attending review workshops
More students working on gender topics for research
More students media practice focussing on gender and diversity issues
Management willingness to come up with a gender policy
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

11. RESULTS NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST Curriculum and course content
PREAMBLE FOR PROPOSED REVIEW OF THE BAJ CURRICULUM
The Faculty of Education and Media Studies proposes a revised curriculum for the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism programme to fulfill University of Malawi requirements for periodic review of all programmes. The proposed review seeks to integrate and mainstream gender and child rights in the curriculum. The proposed review maintains the modular curriculum approved by senate in There are no changes in the modules to be delivered throughout the programme except for the incorporation of gender and child rights course content. The revised programme allows for multiple-entry and multiple--exist points, creates opportunity for student internship whilst allowing the students to engage in specialized projects and an end of programme dissertation. This is in conformity with regional and international journalism education.
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

12. RESULTS Study materials
The literature produced by Gender Links has been utilised in Modules where gender is mainstreamed.
For example some recommended material in Media Criticism Module (fourth year, first semester:
Morna, C and Ndlovu (2008 eds, Gender and Tabloids in Southern Africa. Gender Links: Johannesburg
Gender Links (Ed) Watching the Watchdogs. A gender and media literacy toolkit for Southern Africa.
SAMSCO and Gender links (Nd) Picture out lives, Gender and Images in Southern Africa. A Manual for trainers
Lind, A. (2004), Race, Gender, Media considering Diversity Across Audiences. Allyn and Bacon: Boston
Gender Links, 2009, Glass ceilings women and men Southern Africa media Johannesburg.
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

13. RESULTS
Study materials
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

14. RESULTS NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST
Research projects by students (15 out of the 36 final year students researching a gender topic)
Representation of women in stories on gender based violence in Malawian daily papers
Malawi media coverage of Millennium Development Goal no 2 (universal primary) education
Investigating the attitudes of creative people in advertising on stereotypical portrayal of women
The role of communication messages in promoting girls education
Portrayal of Women Parliamentary Candidates by the Malawi Daily Newspapers During the 2014 Tripartite Elections
Media coverage of unsafe abortion
The effectiveness of radio in promoting the use and access to female condoms
Daily newspaper coverage of abuse of girls
The portrayal of gender based violence in nkhani za mmaboma news programme on Malawi Broadcasting Corporation
How women use radio. A uses and gratification approach on Zokonda Amayi radio programme on MBC
Media coverage of gender based violence
Homosexuality in the Malawi media
Gender main streaming in private commercial radio stations in Malawi
Gender in balance and sports coverage in the Malawi Media
Gender and news sources in the Malawi Media
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

15. RESULTS
Media practise
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

16. RESULTS
Assessments
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

17. RESULTS Changes at the work place
Views of curriculum review and workshop participants
Faculty members should lead by example by being sensitive when delivering the curriculum ie minding their use of language in the classroom
There is need for college sensitization by organising similar workshops targeting lecturers at college level
Staff members should do more research on gender
To encourage student research on gender topics
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

18. RESULTS
Capacity building
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

19. RESULTS
Public participation
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

20. RESULTS Changes at a policy level
Development of Unima gender policy progress report
@This report serves to inform the University of Malawi and its partners of the progress made on the development of a gender policy for UNIMA for the period January – May 2015.
During this period some of the key objectives were successfully met. Focus was on the gender audit of UNIMA or the situational analysis of its internal and external gender environment. Development of research tools and training across the four colleges was another important focus of this reporting period. All the four Colleges have put systems in place that will contribute to the successful development of the policy. A total of 80 staff and research assistants were trained on gender in higher education. [EXTRACT]
Extract demonstrates progress towards institutionalisation of gender equality through policy
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

21. LESSON LEARNED AND INNOVATION
There is need to build strong networks and partnerships for sustainability
Working with MHRRC has helped to speed up processes
Lawi Link has enhance media practice
Modern technology can be used as an effective means for institutionalising gender
Availability of tools for media practice and reference material for learning and research
Constant and continuous dialogue is crucial to effective implementation of a curriculum with gender content
Being able to spearhead gender policy formulation processes
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

22. LEARNING AND SHARING WITH OTHER ORGANISATIONS
We are working with the MHRRC
We met at the GEM summit in 2010 agreeing to collaborate
Our curriculum review has also been informed by lessons from the Polytechnic of Namibia’s Gender in Entry Level Journalism (Made’s Entry point]
Our sister departments such as the Department of Language and Communication have attended our media literacy and training courses.
We have also been invited to present in career conferences for girls in Blantyre
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

23. SUSTAINABILITY AND REPLICATION
There is need to foster collaboration with partner institutions
Institutions need to have identifiable gender champions
These can be further trained to expert level (a masters qualification or phd in the field
We need to lobby for a gender specific budget on the consolidated budget?
Review the university budget to assess its responsiveness to gender issues
To cascade to other institutions we need to write proposals to source funds to aid in curriculum reviews for other institutions especially private universities
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

24. KEY PRIORITIES FOR 2015-2016 Enhance research among staff members
Consolidate gains in the digital library
Consolidate gains in students research ?
Speed up the processes on the development of the gender policy
Review the implementation of the revised curriculum in line with monitoring tools and targets
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST

25. KEY PRIORITIES FOR
THANK YOU
NOW AND POST 2015 ! YES WE MUST