PUBLIC DEVELOPMENT
Women Columnists Covering Human Rights
The project was supported by UHCHR and aimed to raise
public awareness and promote debate within society about
human rights issues and increase responsibility and
professional skills of journalists covering human rights
issues through high quality newspaper columns.
Project trained 6 women journalists
from 6 daily newspapers as columnists and they cooperated
with 2 law consultants
Activities:
6 women journalists were involved to the one-day seminar,
which was held on March 2, 2000 in the meeting room
of Free Press Foundation
Topics covered
during the seminar:
-
« Main concepts of Human Rights» J. Amarsanaa, Chairman
of Human Rights Center of Mongolia (Mongolian)
-
« Media and Women’s Rights» N. Gerelsuren, Union of
Mongolian Women (Mongolian)
-
«Media and Children’s Rights » N. Bolormaa, Center of
Children’s Rights (Mongolian)
-
« How to run newspaper columns?» Mustafa Erich, Press
Institute (Mongolian)
Background materials
distributed to the seminar participants.
- Newspaper Column
and women columnists.
- Media and Child’s Rights. Materials of the International
Federation of Journalists
- Guidelines on Covering Children’s issues adopted by
the IFJ in May 1998 in Receive, Brazil.
Handbook
“ Women Journalists Covering Human Rights was published
(Mongolian)
6 trained journalists had written
and published 25 newspapers materials. These publications
are available at our office.
Columns covered the following topics:
Topic Number of column Percentage
- Gender & inequality
5 20 %
- Violation of rights and violence 10 40 %
- Working condition of women 2 8 %
- Educational problems 2 8 %
- Street children 2 8 %
- Unemployment of women 1 4 %
- Situation of women and children
- In the countryside 2 8 %
- Other 1 4%
60 % of all publications
dedicated to children’s problems and 40 % focused on
women issues.
All project
involved newspapers have had wide feedback on the publications.
87,5% of readers supported covered topics and issues,
25% responded critically.
According to the results of evaluation forms 100 % of
participants and beneficiaries responded that the project
was successful. All of them think that the main factor
influential to the success were correct methods; particularly
- Specializing 75%
- The issue was important 62.5%
- Training 25 %
- Legal advises 15%
As concerns
project significance 5O% said that the project was very
important, other 50% thinks it was important. They consider
it was significant because:
- Journalists focused on crucial social problems of
women and children more bravely than before
- women journalists gained good legal knowledge
- Women journalists obtained good knowledge on human
rights
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