Nkechinyere Ewa-Okpara
AISHA Ibrahim, National Chairperson, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ has emphasized the need for women in media to mainstream gender into reporting on issues affecting the growth and development of the society.

She noted that gender issues, especially as they affect women, are underreported in Nigeria.
Mrs Ibrahim spoke at the Southeast Media Summit of NAWOJ held on November 15 in Enugu State with the Theme: Empowering Voices, Enriching Communities, Bridging Gaps Through Media Engagements.

She explained that to give voice to the voiceless, which is the core mandate of NAWOJ, the current national leadership of NAWOJ has worked out training and retraining modules to groom female professionals in journalism who would become ambassadors in reporting specific themes and underreported areas of National and Global interests.
She urged women journalists to continue to collaborate in tackling gender issues in our local communities and Nigeria at large even as she commended the zone C VP Comrade Amaka Agbo for putting up the Summit despite the economic downturn in the country.
“Every day, in every country in the world, women are confronted by discrimination and inequality. They face violence, abuse, and unequal treatment at home, at work, and in their wider communities – and are denied opportunities to learn, earn, and lead. Women form the majority of those living in poverty.
“The statistics are dismal too on the challenges facing women. Nigeria currently accounts for 34 per cent of global maternal deaths, according to the World Health Organization, WHO. The lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy and childbirth post-partum or after an abortion continues to increase with each birth registered. However, with constant Engagements and reports by the media, governments across all tiers and development partners, National and international, have begun to look intently at measures towards mitigating and reducing these maternal risks to the barest minimum.
“Many women are now benefiting from massive improvements in maternal healthcare delivery as introduced in the last century.
“Gender-based Violence, Sexual violence, harassment of women at workplaces, employment imbalances and discrimination in job rating and promotion on the bases of gender…these are also issues affecting women which need heightened voices in the area of reportage and awareness creation.
“Gender-based violence (GBV) has become a recurring decimal in our nation. WHO reports that 30 per cent of women will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime and that 38 per cent of women who are murdered are killed by their intimate partners.
“The challenges are real, and we must continue to take real-time actions to task ourselves as professionals in giving voices to many of these unheard stories. We must begin to navigate our local communities, crisscross the under-reported terrains, bring out these real-life experiences, and draw national and international actions to them.
“We must report under-reported themes.
Women’s voices must become the centre of community reporting
The reasons are clear, and they are not hinged on any selfish interests.
Women remain vastly underrepresented around the world, and we all know it is “she” who wears the shoes that know where it pinches. I emphasized the SHE because only a woman knows the issues that directly affect her in all the areas mentioned, particularly in her health, well-beingknowand sense of worth.
“The imbalance faced by women affects everything, from equality in the workplace to representation in governance and participation in politics. The vulnerabilities and challenges are visible, and so there should be visible and tangible measures deliberately planned and sustained in giving mileage to awareness on these issues.
“Our role as women journalists is already cut out for us, and we are not doing badly, but we need to do more. Hence, this professional group, the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, came into being. Our pact with humanity is clear: to give voice to the voiceless. Our role should be more gender-specific than it was.
“We need to mainstream gender into reporting on issues affecting the growth and development of the society.
That is exactly why the current administration of NAWOJ, led by my humble self, has worked out training and retraining modules with our dear Past National Chairperson, Comrade Ifeyinwa Omowole, Head of the Training Committee, to deliberately groom female professionals in journalism who would become ambassadors in reporting specific themes and under-reported areas of National and Global interests.
“It is important to continue to evolve creative ideas and ways to get women to talk by themselves about issues affecting them.
As women Journalists, we have our challenges, too, and the safety of women Journalists in carrying out their tasks as citizen journalists is also of paramount concern. Hence, we continue to partner with all security agencies in the task of nation-building.
“While we acknowledge the selfless and highly committed services done by Journalists in drumming up awareness on societal and developmental issues affecting our nationhood, we also use this platform to call on intergovernmental organizations and institutions, all development partners, to as a matter of urgency, show greater commitment to the safety of journalists in carrying out their duties as watchdogs of society.
“International civil society actions should be centred on promoting the safety of members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
“I urge you all to continue to sustain the collective efforts in giving your resources of time, funds, and collaborations in tackling gender issues in our local communities and Nigeria at large.” She said.
Chris Isiguzo nuj national president was among the dignitaries that graced the Summit.