JOURNALISTS have been encouraged to include data in their gender stories for advocating for more women in leadership positions in the country.
"Journalists should include data in stories, as this may act as a reminder to policy and decision makers to consider gender in appointing leaders and in elections processing. The number of women in decision making bodies, including the Parliament is still low," Dr Mzuri Issa Ali, the Director of Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA) Zanzibar, said when announcing the second phase of the 'Data Journalism' Awards.
She said more efforts are needed to change some of the existing laws, policies, and systems that appear to deprive women of opportunities to hold leadership positions, to ensure gender equality is taken into account through appointment or election to administrative and political positions.
Dr Ali pointed out that despite various efforts and measures taken by the government to ratify national and international agreements, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is still a lot to be done.
"We still need more to be done as drummed by civil society organizations involved in the advocacy of women's rights in building capacity and encouraging women to run for various positions," she said.
Dr Ali noted that available data still show that there is a small number of women leaders at various levels compared to men in administrative positions, and that the problem is more in political positions, especially in senior positions."
So far, statistics indicate that only six women out of 18 ministers, or 33.3 per cent, one out of seven deputy ministers, equivalent to 14.3 percent. Only five out of 12 permanent secretaries- 29.4 percent, and one out of the five regional commissioners in Zanzibar," she said.
She praised President Samia Suluhu Hassan and President Hussein Ali Mwinyi for being champions in promoting gender equality, as since taking up their top positions, they have increased the number of women in leadership positions.
Dr Ali said that 'Data Journalism in Gender Award' is a SWIL project supported by the Norwegian Embassy in Tanzania, implemented by TAMWA-Zanzibar, Zanzibar Female Lawyers Association (ZAFELA), and the Gender and Environmental and Gender Advocacy Council (PEGAO).
The main objective of the Award competition dubbed "My Voice, My Right", which started last year, is to encourage journalists to write stories that include data and also increase promoting the rights of women and children by conducting awareness activities including the use of media through print, electronic and social media.
Last year a total of 452 entries were received, of which 73 were newspaper articles, three were television programs, 116 programs were radio articles and 260 social media posts from various media outlets in Zanzibar, and Pemba, and the award was awarded to each group.