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UNESCO calls for women journalists' stories in battle against discrimination

Posted: 09/03/09 By: Judith Townend

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UNESCO is asking women working in the media to share their experiences in order to aid equality in the workplace.

The organisation asks that women submit stories via this link on the campaign website, by April 15, for inclusion on the 'Women Make the News 2009' page.

To mark this years' International Women's Day (March 8), the site has chosen 'Gender Equality Policies in Media Organisations' as its theme and will seek to 'remind media managers and journalists' unions of the importance of developing policies that prevent all forms of discrimination based on gender,' its site says.

A guide on how to deal with some of the main problems encountered by women working in the media has been made in collaboration with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ): a handbook entitled 'Getting the Balance Right'.

"UNESCO believes that all forms of discrimination on the basis of gender are violations of human rights, and a significant barrier to peace, sustainable development and the achievement of all internationally recognized development goals,” Alton Grizzle, the UNESCO officer responsible for the project said, adding that gender equality is one of two global priorities of the UNESCO Medium-Term Strategy for 2008-2013.

"The 'Women Make the News' initiative is intended to keep the spotlight on gender issues particularly in the media industry, engaging all media professionals (men and women) and media organisations to play an active role in championing gender equality, by looking inwards at their individual and personal actions and organisations policies and practices respectively," Grizzle said.

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