WOMEN and Child Affairs Deputy Minister Marlene Mungunda says Information Communication Technology (ICT), particularly the internet and e-mail, could be used for women's empowerment.

For example ICT can enable women's groups or co-operatives to exchange information about the markets, prices, opportunities and experiences.

She made these remarks when she addressed the two day Constituency Outreach Consultative Conference in Windhoek yesterday.

The internet can also be used to enable women to quickly find information, such as sources of funding nationally or within the region.

However, she also pointed out that there was a negative side to the internet as many sites were not gender sensitive since they were run purely on a commercial basis while others contained pornographic content.

Mungunda said the media in general should be encouraged to project positive images of women as role models, giving equal prominence to achievements of women and men and recognising the changing roles of women and men in the society.

She said there should be a set of guidelines for all the media that would prevent gender stereotyping, negative images of women, sexist references, discriminatory advertising and violent content.

She added that more women need to be trained as journalists and editors and be given the chance to occupy senior decision-making and policy-making positions in the media.

The workshop, which ends today, was attended by Regional Councillors, MPs , Regional Governors and other interested parties.