Advancing Gender Equality through Civil Society
Advancing Gender Equality through Civil Society (AGECS) is a Sub-Project of Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and Global Affairs Canada’s Foundations for Empowerment and Education (F4EE) initiative. F4EE is active in five countries :Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda and seeks to improve education systems at the pre-primary and primary level, in addition to strengthening women’s empowerment and gender equality.
Project Background
Advancing Gender Equality in Media & Civil Society in East Africa. (AGEMC-EA) borrows from AGECS as it identifies media as vital in the change the project seeks to establish. project implemented by the Aga Khan Graduate School of Media and Communication (GSMC) in collaboration with the Aga Khan Foundation, with support from Global Affairs Canada (GAC).
The project brings together media and civil society organisations to understand gender inequality and the impact this has on societies and communities across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, with the hope of identifying contextual and measurable solutions for change and progress towards better equality.
In order to investigate the issues around gender GSMC identified the following three areas that need to be suitably addressed in order to receive better gender equality outcomes.
The Media lack of capacity to integrate gender equity into news reporting and coverage of social issues due to lack of clear guidelines and methods to integrate these into content.
There is a lack of gender equity training provided to media and civil society professionals. Training by and large focuses on leadership and capacity building of technical skillsets but does not generate a cultural shift within organisations or an understanding as to why practical applications on issues such as gender are important.
Access to contextual gender data and research related to media is not available in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, so little policy or legal changes can be made due to a lack of evidence.
Thus in order to be able to enhance the ability of media organisations and civil society to identify and respond to gender and social barriers to equality a multipronged approach needs to be implemented. This multi- pronged approach looks at capacity building, mentorship, and leveraging research and advocacy across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, the aim of these is to (1) increase skills and knowledge in media houses; (2) equip media houses with data and evidence; and (3) demonstrate a model that emphasizes the importance of gender equity in media.
Expression of Interests (EOI)
Expression of Interest (EOI) for the Establishment of Gender Desks in Media Houses to Advance Gender Equality in Media and Civil Society in East Africa.
The Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications (GSMC), and its partners through the Advancing Gender Equality in Civil Society (AGECS) Project, funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC), is inviting media houses to respond to this EOI and participate in establishment of media gender desks in pursuance of breaking down the gender barriers and enabling the representation of women in news content in all media platforms.
The project provides for the provision of staffing, training, mentoring and M&E within legacy media houses for the establishment of a dedicated and impactful gender desk. The project seeks to fund the desk for two years during which measures by the legacy media house must be developed and established to ensure the continued use, success and growth of the gender desk. The project will work closely with the media house to provide multiple trainings for understanding the importance of gender equality, and growing gender equality and representation within the publications the media house produces. The project seeks to work collaboratively with said media houses, aiming to ensure that media house guidelines and cultural-social impact, internally and externally, do not conflict with the project.
Download the Expression of Interest (EOI)
Programme Areas