The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) under the West Africa Human Rights and Democracy programme and funded by IBIS-Ghana has trained 24 individuals to monitor and report on women’s participation in public discourse programmes on selected radio stations in Ghana.
The monitors training forms part of activities under the ‘Increasing women’s voices and participation in public discourse and programmes in Ghana’ project being carried out in collaboration with the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa.
The project which started last year seeks to influence gender policies and practices among the media and political parties in Ghana in order to increase the participation of women in public discussions and debates.
The monitors were taken through category definitions in the Media-Gender Equality Monitoring Instrument and the Coding Schemes for the monitoring exercise.
The Monitoring Instrument was developed by a team of media and women’s rights experts to guide monitors in reporting on the participation of women in on-air programmes (either as host, panellists, interviewee etc.). The monitoring will also highlight stereo-typical comments made against women and the general portrayal of women on radio.
A total of 24 radio stations across the country will be monitored from June to November 2014.