IAMCR - International Association for Media and Communication Research

On the occasion of International Women’s Day (8 March), IAMCR joins UNESCO and other international and regional media organizations to launch the annual Women Make the News (WMN) initiative.

Under the theme, “Towards Gender Sensitive Indicators for Media: Best practices for gender perspective in media and in media content”, WMN 2010 is intended to initiate a global exchange on the importance and the need for gender sensitive indicators for media organizations.

Fifteen years ago the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in September 1995, highlighted the key role of media to promote gender equality in all spheres. All stakeholders are called to join forces to combat “stereotyping of women and inequality in women's access to and participation in all communication systems, especially in the media”.

As organizations all around the world take stock of the achievements and outcomes of its implementation, IAMCR joins UNESCO and other major international partners in the belief that there is need to emphasize the role of media to achieve the objectives of the Beijing Declaration.

The partners who have endorsed this initiative include the International Federation of Journalists, Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development, Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, the International Association of Media and Communication Research, the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication, the International Radio and Television University, the European Broadcasting Union, the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, the Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication (Orbicom), and the Permanent Conference of the Mediterranean Audiovisual Operators, and the Organización de Telecomunicaciones Iberoamericanas (OTI).

More information about the initiative is available on UNESCO's website.