A TOTAL of 25 journalists from the Eastern and Southern African region were awarded for outstanding reporting on gender equality at a Gender Journalism Awards online ceremony.
The ceremony was organised by UN Women in Tanzania and Malawi, in partnership with the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), the African Women Leaders' Network and the Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA).
Four journalists from Tanzania were recognised, with Ms Jennifer Gilla from the Guardian, winning first prize for the category on Women's Rights Activism and Leadership. Other winners from Tanzania included Ms Hawa Bigoha from Deutsche Welle, Mr Adam Hhando from CG FM and Yohani Gwangway from Radio SAUT FM.
The awards, with a specific focus on Feminist Leadership and Movement Building, were inspired by the UN Women global generation equality initiative, for which Tanzania is a member of the multi-stakeholder leadership group and co-leads the Action Coalition on Economic Justice and Rights.
At the event, the Director of Gender at the Ministry of Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups, Mr Badru Rwegalurira, emphasised the important role of the media in raising awareness on Tanzania's generation equality commitments.
"The media are indispensable partners in the implementation of the generation equality agenda, and essential partners in informing the public on the centrality of gender equality," he said.
Presenting the award for technology and innovation, Dr Mzuri Issa, a member of the Generation Equality National Committee highlighted the critical need to ensure that those furthest left behind are able to benefit from new technologies.
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"This is a key area of Tanzania's Generation Equality, which seeks to increase investments in education for girls, and to ensure women and girls have better access to affordable and relevant technologies.
Generation Equality is the world's leading initiative to accelerate investment and implementation on gender equality, bringing together governments, civil society organisations, international organisations, the private sector, and the media to realise transformative results for women and girls.
UN Women's Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Mr Maxime Houinato, said that the regional gender journalism awards come at a point when the world is gearing up to take stock of progress at the Generation Equality mid-point meeting, to be held on sidelines of the UN General Assembly this year.
"I am proud to share that Tanzania will co-host the mid-point meeting in September," said Mr. Houinato.
"UN Women looks forward to collaborating with the media further towards and beyond the mid-point, working together to ensure we achieve the transformative change we want to see for generations to come."
