By Danlami Nmodu
The International Press Centre(IPC) and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers(GOCOP) has held a consultative meeting recently in Abuja.
The meeting supported by the EU explored how the online community represented by GOCOP would ensure effective coverage of gender issues in election and governance.
Maureen Chigbo, President of GOCOP, in her opening address relished the need for strong partnership towards gender mainstreaming in covering election and governance issues.She commended the IPC for the partnership with GOCOP.
Lanre Arogundade, Executive Director, IPC, while welcoming the editors and publishers reeled out to the audience, the array of activities by his organisation towards ensuring gender mainstreaming. He also expressed optimism that the new partnership with GOCOP will ensure even more robust coverage of gender and related issues.
The robust keynote address delivered by Anikeade Funke -Treasure, highlighted the tasks ahead. According her, the media especially GOCOP and online publishers must: “Ensure inclusive representation in coverage
“Act as a watchdog for fair electoral processes
“Expose gender-based electoral violence and exclusion
“Educate the electorate on women’s political rights
She noted that “Without visibility, there can be no voice” and “Without voice, no victory.”
Significantly, the keynote Speaker said the “Media must not just reflect but reform society.”
Newsdiaryonline reports thatbthe keynote speaker earlier outlined some grim statistics on the poor standing of women in politics. She noted that, “Women’s representation in Nigerian politics has been on a downward slide since 2011.
“(The number)of women in Nigeria’s National Assembly has fallen by 19% compared to the last assembly. Women now occupy 3% of seats in the Senate and 4% in the House of Representatives.
” Across all national and subnational categories, women represented just over 10% of more than 15,000 candidates who ran in the 2023 elections for president, the National Assembly, governorships, and state assemblies.
Pitiably, she further noted, that “90 percent of women candidates ran on the platforms of small parties.
“As of 2023, women hold only 26.5% of parliamentary seats worldwide(UN Women and Inter-Parliamentary Union’s “Women in Politics: 2023” map).
“In Nigeria, less than 7% of national legislative positions are held by women (IPU, 2023).
According to Funke – Treasure the barriers undermining the progress of women include:Discriminatory party structures;Gender-based political violence; Media underrepresentation/misrepresentation
She further listed four main factors that have contributed to high attrition rates for women during party primaries
They include, she said, Political party gatekeeping; Conservative norms and culture; The variation of competitiveness in executive versus legislative offices; The combined effect of novice candidature (large number of political newcomers);low persistence (staying power) of women candidates who lose elections and Women remain underrepresented globally and in Nigeria (<10% seats), she noted.
The gathering proceeded into exciting breakout sessions which produced clear-cut issues to give media coverage with realistic timeliness.The organisers and the partners left the venue with high hopes of gender mainstreaming, going forward.