1.0 Introduction. 2.0 General Findings

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2 1.0 Introduction Women s role and their inclusiveness in development both in terms of their contribution and accessing benefits continue to pitch high in the global development agenda. This is evidenced in several development declarations, commitments, frameworks and agreements as indicators of good governance in many democratic societies. Indeed, the proposed post 2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals (5) identifies women s equality and empowerment as being critical to development. This will ensure women s full and effective participation, and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. In Ghana, even though there have been some marginal gains in women s empowerment, their participation in public or national discourse needs a much more sustained effort. The media in Ghana continues to be influential in setting the public agenda and giving decisive visibility to issues. Thus, their failure to consciously include women in their programming means that increasingly, only few women get the chance to participate or be involved in public discourse on TV and radio in particular. To help address this, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and the Foundation for Security Development in Africa (FOSDA) under the project Increasing Women s Voices and Participation in Public Discourse in Ghana monitored the levels of female participation and involvement in public discourse on radio in Ghana. The monitoring exercise which spanned June to November 2014 formed part of many efforts at addressing the woeful share of female involvement and participation in public discourse in Ghana. Beginning in June 2014, the MFWA monitored 24 radio stations in Ghana to gauge the extent to which women s voices are included in programmes on radio. 24 individuals were recruited and trained to monitor the radio stations. Monitoring reports were issued monthly to highlight trends and gaps. The project was funded by IBIS-Ghana under the West Africa Human Rights and Democratisation programmes (WAHRD) and aimed to influence gender policies of media and political parties in the country and thus contribute to increased women s participation in public discourse in Ghana. This final report presents findings from data gathered throughout the monitoring period (June to November 2014). Based on the findings here, recommendations are made on how the media, government and civil society can improve their work to increase women s participation in public discourse in Ghana. 2.0 General Findings

3 Males consistently dominated all programmes monitored between June and November During the monitoring exercise, a total of 5,633 programmes were monitored on the 24 radio stations. These programmes featured a total of 9,189 individuals. These individuals featured either as moderators (hosts and presenters) or discussants (panellists, interviewees and callers) Out of the total number of 9,189 individuals who featured on monitored programmes, 1,842 were females, accounting for only 20 percent. Table 1 below illustrates the monthly disparity between male and female representation on programmes monitored. Table 1: Gender of Individuals who featured on programmes monitored MONTH MALE FEMALE June 1,783 (73) 359 (17) July 1,193 (79) 332 (21) August 1,468 (78) 419 (22) September 1,153 (80) 295 (20) October 1,018 (79) 263 (21) November 732 (81) 174 (19) TOTAL 7,347 (80) 1,842 (20) 3.0 Specific Findings Specific findings of gender imbalances recorded during the entire monitoring period are presented in this section under the following categories: Gender, Media Programming and Content; Treatment of Women on Radio; Performance of Women on Radio Programmes Monitored. 3.1 Gender, Media Programming and Content Over the six month period, there was a total of 3,337 moderators on all programmes monitored. Out of this number, 1,204 were females, representing about 36 percent of all moderators who featured on programmes monitored. June 2014 registered the highest representation of female moderators - 39 percent, while October registered the least with 32 percent. While some of the female moderators hosted/presented programmes alone, a significant number was paired with their male counterparts. The overall disparity between male and female moderators over the past six months is illustrated in Figure 1 below: Figure 1: Gender Imbalance between Male & Female Moderators

4 2,133 1,204 Male Female The number of female moderators who featured on each radio station varied and largely fluctuated from month to month. While different radio stations were cited in different months for fielding higher number of female moderators, Tema-based Meridian FM was continuously cited every month since July for fielding no female moderator; very unfortunate especially for a radio station managed by a female Gender of Discussants on Radio Programmes Monitored A total of 5,862 discussants (panellists, interviewees and callers) featured on all programmes monitored within the six month period. Male discussants consistently dominated radio discussions. It is however worth noting that the number of female discussants fluctuated throughout the monitoring period. Details of the month-on-month gender disparities are illustrated in Table 2 below. Table 2: Gender Disparity of Discussants on Radio Programmes Month Male Female June 1, July August September October November Total 5,224 (89) 638 (11)

5 3.1.2 Gender and Political Party Affiliation Political parties are the single largest contributor of discussants to radio programmes in Ghana; this is confirmed by findings from the monitoring exercise. Of the total of 5,862 discussants recorded on programmes monitored over the six months period, 2,449 were affiliated to political parties, representing about 42 percent of the total number of discussants. The dominant political parties whose representatives consistently featured on monitored programmes (in no particular order) were the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Convention People s Party (CPP), the People s National Convention (PNC), the Progressive People s Party (PPP) and the National Democratic Party (NDP). Of the total 2,449 political party affiliates/representatives identified on the monitored programmes, female political party affiliates/representatives accounted for only 189 translating into about eight percent. Female political party representation in monitored programmes peaked in September, where women formed eleven percent (11) of the total 334 political affiliates recorded for that month while all the other months of the monitoring period recorded figures between six and eight percent. Though the opposition NPP contributed about half of the entire number of discussants whose political affiliations were revealed on the programmes, the ruling NDC registered the highest number of female representatives throughout the monitoring exercise. Details of the month-on-month records of political parties and the number of affiliates/representatives who featured on programmes monitored are presented below in Table 3. Table 3: Gender of Political Party Affiliates Mon NPP NDC CPP PNC PPP NDP URP M F M F M F M F M F M F M F June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Tota l 1,

6 3.1.3 Gender, Sources/Attribution and Voices of Actuality Regarding sources or originators of the broadcast programme or news item on the programmes monitored, males dominated. Again, females were woefully underrepresented in the voices of actuality (voice) used or played on monitored programmes. Details of the gender disparities recorded in the six months are shown in Figures 1 and 2 below. Figure 1: Gender of Sources 2, Male Female Figure 2: Gender of Voices of Actuality 443 1,125 Male Female The monitoring exercise also assessed the performance of females who featured on programmes monitored either as moderators or discussants. The assessment

7 was based on how the female moderators anchored issues under discussion, allotted time to discussants, controlled the panel and how they generally managed the programmes; the discussants knowledge on issues; their competence and confidence levels; articulation and presentation skills were also assessed. How women or females were also treated by their male counterparts on the programmes was also assessed. 3.2 Treatment of Women on Radio and Gender Related Issues Over the entire monitoring period, female moderators and discussants were generally treated well by their male counterparts. Aside from two gender stereo-typical comments that were recorded in the first two months of monitoring (June and July), no other such comments were subsequently recorded. There was no recorded incident of hostility or violence from male moderators and discussants towards their female counterparts. The atmosphere was generally cordial and friendly for the females who appeared on the programmes. 3.3 Performance of Women on Radio Programmes Monitored Findings showed that throughout the monitoring period, female moderators were highly professional. There was no record of any open exhibition of bias or partisanship by a female moderator in her moderation on the monitored programmes. Female discussants were also generally articulate, confident, professional and knowledgeable on the issues discussed Discussion of Gender-related Issues About 5,000 issues/topics were discussed on programmes monitored during the six month monitoring exercise with the least being women-related issues (114). The most frequently discussed issues during the monitoring period were Politics (1,383), Health Issues (855) Social Issues (679) and Labour Issues (391). The specific women-related issues discussed between June and November were as follows: Women and Children Health Issues 37 Women in Politics & Gender Mainstreaming 30 Girl Child Rights / Education 18 Relationship between Men and Women 8 Defilement - 8 Domestic Violence 7 Women in Crime - 6

8 4.0 Conclusion Overall, the monitoring exercise shows some improvement in the level of women s involvement and participation in media discourse in Ghana, even though quite marginal. The month of November 2014 (19) showed a two percent increase over the start month of June (17). Largely, the level of women s participation and involvement fluctuated throughout the monitoring exercise with the month of August recording the highest with 22 percent. That the monitoring exercise showed a consistently high record of professionalism, knowledge and good conduct of female moderators and discussants on programmes monitored, lends credence to the importance of their contribution to the national and global development agenda. It also attests to worldwide campaigns to get more women on radio, as a means of sanitising that medium of the incessant foul language that sometimes characterise discussions when it is all male-dominated. Indeed, the month-on month monitoring and reporting of women s involvement and participation in public discourse in Ghana has provided empirical evidence of how dire the situation of women s participation is. This requires urgent and collective efforts of governments, political parties, the media and civil society to improve and consolidate the gains made in women s empowerment in Ghana. 5.0 Recommendations: It is important to mention that as part of raising awareness and increasing discussions of the monthly reports of women s participation and involvement in public discourse in Ghana, a High profile National Forum on Media and Women in Accra was held. The forum brought together key stakeholders working in media, gender-related issues, academia, political parties and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to reflect and recommend ways of improving women s involvement and participation in national discourse. Thus, the recommendations made in this report are based on the gaps identified during the monitoring exercise and also drawn from the plethora of recommendations made at the Media and Women s Forum held in Accra. The Recommendations are hence categorised for the attention of the different stakeholders:

9 THE MEDIA Media owners, managers and programme producers should consciously engage women as programme anchors and discussants, and also source more females for news and discussion programmes. Editorial policies in the various media houses should be more gendersensitive Producers in the media houses should desist from the excuse that women are not available and go the extra mile to involve women in their programmes Media houses should show more commitment to women s issues like they do to other issues Media houses should conscientiously create legitimate spaces for women WOMEN Women must make a conscious effort to reach out of their comfort zones and put themselves forward; Women Members of Parliament should make themselves more heard and visible in the media and in national discourse Women must make clear efforts at self- learning, accessing training, researching, preparing well and networking more Older women must begin to groom younger ones to take over Professional women and women in general should not be afraid of being tagged with a political party when they are called upon to serve the country in the capacity that they have the expertise in. MEN Men should be ambassadors to support women There should be a strong movement of both men and women who believe women should speak out and also believe in the empowerment of women POLITICAL PARTIES AND GOVERNMENT Political Parties should identify potential women leaders and mentor them Political parties should endeavour to implement their campaign promises of actively increasing women s participation at all levels in accordance with the UN mandated figure of at least 30 women. Political Parties should change certain provisions in their constitutions to allow more women to take up roles and be heard and seen Political parties must develop the capacities of more women within their ranks to serve as communicators. Gender-related issues and promotion of female role models in public discourse should be a key priority

10 Political parties must endeavour to use professional women in their political assignments Political Parties must develop Monitoring systems to track, report and improve on women s participation in public discourse Political Parties should support women with adequate, factual and timely information while there are training institutions for younger women in politics to take over. CIVIL SOCIETY Gender mainstreaming advocacy should continue and not lose steam The Affirmative action bill should be passed for the quota system to be actualized; while it also helps to identity competent and qualified women Civil Society must support the establishment of a support network and women s associations. Civil Society should conscientise society from the early stages to understand that men and women or boys and girls are equal and continue to raise women s awareness

11 List of 24 Radio Stations GREATER ACCRA Joy fm Citi fm Adom fm Radio Univers Meridian fm Uniq fm Radio Gold Peace fm Oman fm ASHANTI REGION Angel fm Hello fm Fox fm CENTRAL REGION Radio Peace VOLTA REGION Radio Jubilee Lorlornyo FM EASTERN REGION FAWE FM NORTHERN REGION Radio Justice North Star Diamond fm Radio Savannah UPPER EAST REGION Radio A1 Gurune FM UPPER WEST REGION Radio Upper West Radio Progress