"In December 1991, upon the initiative of the London-based World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) in collaboration with Isis International in Manila and the International Women's Tribune Centre (IWTC) based in New York, the concept of the Women Empowering Communication global conferenc
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e was crystallized. Now, over two years later, and after several planning meetings and preparatory work, the global conference. Women Empowering Communication in Thailand is a reality. Isis International, in addition to its principal role as a co-organizer, wanted to make a tangible contribution to the conference. Thus we bring to you this issue of Women in Action, a collection of articles on women's experiences in community media from the regions of Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific. The conference participants constitute representatives of women's networks, alternative media, grassroots groups, the academe and other disciplines. It seems only fitting that we share with them how individual women and women's groups have creatively expressed themselves in various media forms in the community setting. In fact, we have featured some of the participating groups in the conference such as Video SEWA, Sistren Theatre Collective, and Cine Mujer. These women have set inspiring examples of how we can utilize varying media expressions not only to attain, self-empowerment but also to improve the portrayal of women in media. They have shown us the similarities in the lives and struggles of women all over the globe, despite cultural and geographical boundaries. What is even more encouraging is that these women's voices come from the community. They have successfully explored in very creative ways the use of low cost media such as song, dance, street theater, drawings, posters, puppetry and flipcharts. There are many other women's groups who have done some very good work in community media such ; as FIRE (Feminist International Radio Endeavour), a feminist radio program in Costa Rica and the East Sepik Documentation Project in the Pacific. We also acknowledge the value of traditional forms of expression such as arpilleras and tapestries, woven stories on cloth by women in Chile, Peru and the Philippines and the khanga, a piece of cloth used as a communication tool by women in Africa.. What we have presented here is but a microviewing of women's experiences in community -media. In bringing this to the Women Empowering Communication conference, we join in the gathering of women i communicators who will enrich us with the breadth and depth of their experiences in media." (Editorial)
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"This book presents the outcome of five case-studies carried out within Unesco's programme on the Contribution of the Media to Promoting Equality between Women and Men and Strengthening Women's Access to and Participation in Communication. More specifically, it forms part of an action centred on the
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Training, Recruitment and Advancement of Women in the Communication Professions. The case-studies on professional women in broadcasting deal with five countries located in both the developing and developed world: Canada, Egypt, Ecuador, India and Nigeria. One of the major preoccupations of Unesco's programme is to increase the access of women to decision-making positions. The obstacles to the movement of women into management and decision-making positions are particularly felt in the field of communication. A comparative analysis of the key issues, personnel policies and practices of five broadcasting organizations in different regions of the world not only furnishes a critique of current policies concerning women but offers proposals for action which could help to overcome barriers to women's access to high-level posts in the media." (Preface)
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