CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT ON GENDER RESPONSIVE COMMUNICATION FOR POLICY DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES.

From 14th to 15th March 2023, we attended a knowledge and skills enhancement training on Gender Responsive Communication for Policy Development Processes hosted by Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) Secretariat in Kampala. The two days’ workshop specifically targeted Advocacy and Communications Officers to direct attention to the importance of effective messaging and communication framework or guidelines in ensuring a progressive women’s rights agenda based on #Communication4PolicyDevt, an evidence-based communications research using the Natural Language Processing approach which was produced by UWONET in 2019.

Facilitators, Justine Atim and Shawn Oseku brainstorm with the participants in a session on Principles and Recommendations to Gender Responsive Reporting.

Topical discussions covered the development of a media gender content audit report, gender representation in media drawing a clear understanding on the current relationship between mass media and gender along with proposed recommendations to address the concerning realities, issues and challenges to gender responsive reporting in Uganda.

Emphasis was put on encouragement of gender responsive approaches to resources and research, regular engagements with media, building mentorship and expertise among women which will enable them to engage more in public discourses and become sources from a point of knowledge on the issues that affect them, and finally, utilization of the available laws and policies that ensure gender equality such as the CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women).