Media commended for positive reportage on female parliamentary aspirants

Koforidua, Oct. 25, GNA - Mr Frank Wilson Bodza, WILDAF Programmes Manager for Governance, has commended the Ghanaian media for their positive reportage on female parliamentary aspirants for the December polls.

He said though coverage of women in the media was still low, it was better and more positive than in past years.

Mr Bodza said this at a day's media training on violence free-elections by Women Situation Room-Ghana (WSR-Ghana) in Koforidua.

He stated: 'Things have changed. There is a lot of improvement in write-ups on women in the media. The negatives have given way to positives and there are hardly any media attacks on women.'

Mr Bodza said the 'positive change' from the 2008 elections resulted in the increasing number of women aspirants in the 2016 elections, and urged the media to sustain the campaign of getting more women at decision making levels.

He called for the inclusion of gender in the professional training of journalists.

Madam Adjoa Bame, National Coordinator, WSR-Ghana, said it was not true that women were their own enemies and that, with a fair and balanced platform, women could do better in general elections.

Madam Barbara Sangare, WSR International Coordinator, said women played critical roles in ensuring peace at elections, hence the initiative for violence-free polls in December.

She said the WSR was interacting with major stakeholders, including political vigilante groups, on the need for peaceful elections in the country.

Madam Sangara said election hotspots had also been identified and were being monitored ahead of the polls.

Women Situation Room is a women's peace-building mechanism to mitigate conflict before, during and after elections in African countries.

GNA