BUJUMBURA March 10th (ABP) – The Burundian Association of Women Journalists (AFJO), officially launched on Thursday March 9, 2023, the “Gender and Media Prize” competition.
The Director General of Communication and Media at the Ministry of Communication, Information Technologies and the Media, Mr. Alain Diomède Nzeyimana, has indicated that the organization of that competition is part of the objective that this ministry has assigned itself, namely the application of the national communication policy which provides, among other things, for parity between men and women in the media and the consideration of gender in media productions. He recalled that the media have made commitments in that regard by signing “the media charter sensitive to gender and young people”.
The ministry has set up a commission for the implementation of that charter. Mr. Nzeyimana reiterated the commitment of that ministry “to ensure that women and men in the media are treated on equal terms”.
For her part, Mrs. Scola Bigaranya, Executive Secretary of the AFJO, the competition was set up to encourage journalists to be more gender-sensitive when collecting, processing and disseminating information. Explaining that “despite progress in promoting gender equality in Burundi, there is a low visibility of women in media content”. An exercise that highlights media productions that can serve as a model, she added.
As announced by Mrs. Agathonique Barakukuza responsible for the “Media, Peace and Gender” project at AFJO, the candidates for that competition are all journalists recognized by the National Media Council, working as reporters or producers in radio stations, television, print media, news agency or producing online newspapers. Productions to be presented in the competition must have been published between May 22, 2022 and March 31, 2023.
Mrs. Barakukuza further specified that the submission period is set from March 10 to 31, 2023. The evaluation of the competing productions will take place throughout the month of April and the award ceremony is scheduled for May 2023, she indicated. The theme chosen for the year 2023 is: “Rural women, pillar of development”.