RESPOND's Presence at the 2012-14 Women’s Edition Seminar, Organized by the Population Reference Bureau
Nancy Yinger, RESPOND Project Senior Technical Advisor, gave two presentations at the opening seminar of the 2012-14 Women’s Edition group this past November 12-13, 2012, which included the participation of 14 journalists from Africa and South Asia. The first presentation focused on key issues in reproductive health and included:
- A look at how the issue has been dealt with at international conferences, from the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) to the recent London Summit on Family Planning,
- A review of key data, and
- A discussion with the participants on the reproductive health situation in their countries and ways in which they might be able to cover these issues in their reporting.
The second presentation, on reproductive choice, was based on the RESPOND Project’s recent Bellagio consultation “A Fine Balance: Contraceptive Choice in the 21st Century.” Ms. Yinger led a discussion on what contraceptive choice means, including the challenges of both coercion and lack of access to a full range of contraceptive methods. The participants learned a lot from each other; for example, several African participants thought that India still used coercive methods to get women to use female sterilization, even though the “emergency” there in the 1970s related to male sterilization and resulted in significant changes to that country’s family planning policy. Most participants felt that social norms rather than anything related to the health system limited women’s access to effective family planning. The group discussed various ways to bring these issues to light in their reporting. They also discussed finding the right balance between highlighting individual cases of abuse and using statistics to explain effectively weaknesses in health services. All of the participants attended the launch of the 2012 United Nations Population Fund’s State of the World’s Population report By Choice, Not by Chance: Family Planning, Human Rights and Development, which deals with these same issues, and discussed issues to look for in the presentation and in the report.
Women's Edition brings together senior-level women editors, reporters, and producers from influential media organizations in developing countries to examine and report on pressing issues affecting women's health and status. It seeks development of informed policy decisions affecting women through factual, accurate, and up-to-date media coverage that reflects women's needs and perspectives. By providing information directly to millions of women in developing countries on issues that are important to them, Women's Edition also helps to shape public discussion of these issues and to arm women with information that allows them to take control of their lives. To achieve its mission, Women's Edition is designed to strengthen and expand coverage of women's health, development, and population issues in the print and broadcast news media. This involves increasing the frequency and prominence of coverage, using data correctly, and emphasizing women's perspectives.
To this end, the Population Reference Bureau organizes annual seminars and study tours for Women's Edition members on pressing issues concerning reproductive health and related topics. Up to 15 senior journalists from leading news media organizations around the developing world are competitively selected to participate in these seminars. They include sessions on various aspects of women's health and development; editorial meetings in which participants share experiences, ideas, and reporting strategies; and study tours where the journalists can see innovative programs in action. Following a seminar, each Women's Edition journalist produces for her media organization at least one in-depth and high-profile special report, series of stories, or program based on the theme of that seminar. These have included special newspaper pull-out sections, features, in-depth news reports, editorials, and talk shows.