Locations
Bilan
Somali Women Media Project
About the Project
The project aims to contribute towards economic diversification and increased market access by Somali women to media business development services; expedite digital technology application and learning for women journalists and advocate for strengthened regulatory oversight of gender-based violence and online harassment in the media workplace and against women and girls.
The project takes an integrated approach, i.e. (1) a gender and economic development approach that invests in women’s economic empowerment and leadership through e-learning, women-led business and economic development with a focus on women’s employability skills and building for a more equal workforce; (2) a human right approach, to advocate for women’s rights to speak, mobilise communities, increase women’s political participation and civic engagement in the matter related to women lives at local, regional, and federal fora and (3) the humanitarian, development, and peace nexus approach (HDPN) in line with the principles of UNSC Resolution 1325 and the specific country context. Taking these approaches further, the project will empower women not only to report but also to be an advocates on matters that matter to women and girls, including gender equality and gender-based violence and harassment.
The geographical focus of the project operating from Mogadishu and distributing reports in the 5 Federal Member States (FMS) covering 5 federal member states will help further widen coverage of women’s issues inside Somalia and facilitate expansion in all federal member states. Through the area-based approach, UNDP will position the project to support more sustainable local solutions and serve as a planning tool to promote social cohesion and interaction between women and local authorities in the areas where UNDP operates.
Key Planned Objectives:
Over five years (2023-2028), the project will deliver three immediate measurable results:
- Capacitate Bilan to establish itself18 as Somalia’s first all-women media agency to provide investigative and social reporting as well as video, photography and other journalistic services to local and international media outlets as Somalia’s first all-women media agency to provide investigative and social reporting as well as video, photography and other journalistic services to local and international media outlets;
- Contribute to an improved capacity of 53 women journalists to use digital technology to report professionally and ethically on issues and solutions that affect development for women and vulnerable groups in Mogadishu and 5 member states;
- Create and secure an endorsement from Somalia’s journalism unions for a women's rights charter to support equality, end gender-based violence and online harassment, as well as advocacy toward legislative change in support of these rights.
The project will create a center of excellence that shows not just how women journalists can equal their male peers but how they can provide a paradigm of high-quality, ethical journalism for other media houses to emulate, and an opportunity to reflect community voices from the local level. In recognition of the project's contribution to the advancement of women’s rights and gender equality, the project applies the Gender Marker level 3 to the three outputs
