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The Founder & Coordinator for Media Initiative for Women and Girls Empowerment (MIWGEM), Adama Bai Conteh has disclosed that 40 young women from across the country are currently undergoing a week’s training in Public Relations Media Empowerment.
The training at the former Special Court premises in Freetown in partnership with Leone Rock Metal Group started on Monday 25th March and will end on Friday 29th March 2024.
She pointed out that MIWGEM is a young women advocacy organization in Sierra Leone working with young women and girls with interest in media and media related work.
She added that they train the young women into becoming professional Public Relations Officers whilst encouraging them to develop skills in producing media contents and acquiring photography, videography skills among others.
MIWGEM’s, Madam Bai Conteh went further to say that they are young women advocacy organization established in 2017 to support, power and inspire young women and girls with interest in media and media literacy work.
She pointed out that over the years they have been engaging in series of media training and programming among others.
According to her, since the establishment of the organization they have trained a good number of women into developing the necessary skills to dominate Sierra Leone media landscape such as photography, videography, news writing, developing news angle, telling news stories, production of jingles and documentary.
“We want to encourage young girls in school to up for media courses upon completion of their secondary schools and to university. We train them into becoming professional Public Relations Officers whilst encouraging them to develop skills in producing media contents and acquiring photography, videography and skills among others”, she said.
She further stated that “We are empowering the women because of our mandate and the challenges I encountered when I started journalism. It is only now we are seeing development in the media but it was challenging back then.”
He concluded by saying in few years from now she sees more women taking up media spaces, acquiring the necessary skills, few years from now they want to see Sierra Leone like Ghana, Nigeria in terms of media landscape.
One of the facilitators, Eric Kawa, a CNN correspondent said they were supposed to give a helping hand to women. He described his presence at the training as a great honor to be with them and to also share knowledge with them.
He pointed out that participants are very much willing to learn and know how they can connect. He encouraged other women to join the program by contacting the organizers.
One of the participants, Caroline Quee of the Sulman Design Empowerment Initiative expressed joy to be part of the training as what she is doing is in line with the training. She said what she will transform what she will be learning to the community they are operating.
She encouraged women not to discouraged and for them not to be a liability to any man but for them to be able to empower themselves and also stable in whatever they are doing.
Topics such as news writing, news gathering, photography, videography, understanding how the camera works, edition of pictures and videos and sessions on jingle documentary, productions both theories and practical form part of presentations. Other facilitators included, Ellen Keister, Ronald Sesay, Emmanuel Rogers-Wright and Abdul Malik Bangura Esq among others.
