In line with the goals of the Union to promote key stakeholder engagement with Africa’s development Agenda 2063, the Information and Communication Directorate (ICD) undertakes to engage media associations as partners in raising awareness about Agenda 2063 and its Flagship projects.

As part of the media engagement strategy, the ICD in collaboration with the African Women in Media (AWiM) has hosted the Annual African Women in Media Conferences in 2019, 2020 and 2021. The conference brings together media practitioners and owners, academia, as well as government and public sector communications officials, to discuss issues affecting the media industry, development of journalists, and specifically the participation of women in media sector.

The objectives of the partnership are to:

1. Create awareness about the AU Strategy for Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment (GEWE 2018-2028), The African Women’s Decade of Women’s Financial Inclusion and other key activities undertaken by the AU as relates to gender issues.
2. Create awareness of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa
3. Inform and engage media by:
• Recognising the contributions of journalists towards the achievement of Agenda 2063 (outcome from STC on Communications & ICT 2017)
• Engaging media in the advocacy initiatives for Ratification domestication and implementation regional and international instruments related to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in the media.

Under the theme United in Action, AWiM22 Morocco takes place on 8-9 December 2022, as a hybrid conference. United in Action refers to the coming together of all African women in their shared experiences, and unity among media practitioners, academics, policy actors and civil society towards gender equality in the newsroom and in media content. Therefore, the AWiM22 conference is guided by an ethos of shared best practices and collaborative action to impact positively the way media functions in relation to African women. We posit that gender equality in and through the media is not just a moral and ethical obligation for media organisations, but a fundamental tenet of media's role in society.

At AWiM22, speakers will critically engage with the theme from academic, practice, policy and CSO perspectives. Academics will offer empirical and theoretical engagement; practitioners and CSOs will share learnings and best practices through their various initiatives, whilst policy actors are invited to consider policy interventions and agendas. This collective engagement for gender equality in and through the media will be considered in the wider context of global challenges.

Every year during the annual African Women in Media Conference, journalists are given the opportunity to pitch their story ideas to organisations who have partnered with AWIM to create a platform for female journalists and other media practitioners to engage and discuss key issues of the day.

The AWIM Pitch Zone is unique in its setting in that it provides journalists a setting where they can showcase their creativity and ultimately be awarded the funding that will support their ambitions to see their stories come to life and give a voice to the communities represented in their final work.

AWIM have partnered with the African Union to sponsor the 2022 Pitch Zone during the annual AWIM 2022 to be held in Fez, Morocco, in a hybrid conference. To participate, interested journalists will be required to submit written pitches for any of the 5 award categories which they will defend before a group of judges during a live pitch event.

The winners of the Pitch Zone will receive grants from the African Union which will be in recognition of their submissions reflecting the Aspirations and Goals of Africa’s Development Framework, Agenda 2063 and the opportunities for fostering Africa’s socio-economic growth through the implementation of Agenda 2063.

The 5 Award Categories are:

1. AU Theme of the Year 2022 – The Year of Nutrition “Strengthening resilience in nutrition and food security on the African continent: Strengthening agro-food systems, health and social protection systems for the acceleration of human, social and economic capital development.”
2. Africa’s Digital transformation Strategy – Positioning Africa for the 4th Industrial Revolution (related to Agenda 2063 Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa)
3. Re-branding Africa – Changing Narratives and perceptions (related to Agenda 2063, Aspiration 7)
4. Promoting efforts towards the Economic and Financial Inclusion of African Women (Agenda 2063 Aspiration 6, AU Gender Equality and women’s Empowerment Strategy (GEWE);the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), and the AU Constitutive Act.
5. Promoting the Rights of Children in Africa (Agenda 2063 Aspiration 6, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children)

Pitches submitted must be in any of the 5 Award Categories and the stories should focus on the Africa’s Agenda 2063 and reflect the progress and/or impact of implementation of Agenda 2063 on African citizenry.

The stories must be evidence-based with clear reference on the sources of data.

The final stories can be produced in either:

• Audio (radio/ podcast)
• Video format as film/ documentary or staggered series suitable for dissemination through broadcast or digital media platforms.
• A series of articles that must be published in credible publications accompanied with supporting imagery to enhance the storyline.

1. To be eligible to pitch, you must attend the AWiM22 conference either in-person or virtually. Click here to register. Once you register, you will be given access to the conference app where you can book your timeslot for your live pitch
2. One must be a female journalist and a citizen of any of the 55 Member States of the African Union, working in an established media organization or accredited as a journalist by the relevant governing authority of the AU Member State.
3. Read and understand the 5 Award Categories and identify the preferred category for pitching
4. Research your chosen category and prepare your 2-minute pitch. Each pitch timeslot will last for 10 minutes. After your 2-minute pitch, the panel will ask you further questions.
5. Familiarise oneself with the Rules and Guidelines for participation below
6. Winners will be announced during the AWIM Gala Awards Dinner on 09 December 2022. Following the awards, AWiM will be in touch with further details.

Rules and Guidelines

1. Media practitioners will prepare a two-minute pitch that they will present live to a panel of judges who will be representatives from the awarding organisation.
2. Participants must be at least 18 years of age.
3. Only those registered to attend the conference in person or virtual are eligible to pitch
4. Joint pitches are permitted.
5. Pitched stories must result in substantial outputs like a podcast series, audio-visual content etc. with clear strategies for dissemination and promotion.
6. Pitches should be in English or French. However, the eventual outputs must be in at least two of the official African Union languages. The official languages of the African Union are; English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Swahili and Spanish.
7. The selected finalists must have their work published on credible media outlets.
8. Once selected, the winners will receive cash grant awards from the African Union to produce the stories pitched. The selected winners will be expected to produce news stories that give a continental perspective of the issues they will pitch on.
9. Any entries that are late, illegible, fraudulent, or which bring/would be likely to bring the reputation of the African Union and/or, African Women in Media, into disrepute will be rendered ineligible to participate in the Awards and will be disqualified.
10. Once selected, winners will be required to provide a production schedule with a timeframe of production of the news stories, the broadcast schedule and the intended use of the funds.

1. The panel of judges will be determined by the African Union
2. Judges reserve the right not to select entries that do not meet the required standards.
3. Judges reserve the right to transfer entries for consideration in other categories at their discretion.
4. The judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

Since the commencement of the partnership, the African Union has recognised and awarded journalists for their work in promoting Agenda 2063 flagship initiatives as well as the AU Theme of the Year. In addition, the AWIM 2020 conference culminated in the African Photojournalism Award inspired by the 7 Aspirations of Agenda 2063

The African Women in Media Conference 2021 held virtually from 6-8 December 2021 under the theme “Building Resilience”. examined the role media has to play in building back better post Covid-19 and promoting women’s equal & fair representation in line with the AU-GEWE strategy as countries implemented recovery plans as well as focusing on the  AU 2021 Annual where workshops were held to discuss how Africa’s media, creative and cultural industries  are adapting and lessons learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic.  In 2021 the AU recognised 5 journalists in the following categories:

1. Women in trade: Financial inclusion as a tool to boost intra-African trade. (AfCFTA)
2. Boosting Africa’s Cultural and Creative Industries and their contribution to the economy (Theme of the Year 2021)
3. Africa’s digital transformation strategy - How the digital economy can help accelerate the achievement of the Africa We Want
4. Science and technology – Enhancing outer space science studies, activities and facilities in Africa.
5. Improving Africa’s Public Health Sector – Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic

Understanding the lived experiences of African women in media is essential to guiding policy and advocacy agendas towards ensuring that countries and media organisations create the necessary enabling environment for women in media to effectively execute their work.

Part of this initiative to create enabling environments constitutes a reliable tool for monitoring how well countries and organisations comply with women’s rights, and a means of obtaining data that will support journalists to perform their functions. Safety is however indispensable for bringing about these enabling environments.

Leadership mentoring is the number one area in which AWiM’s support is requested. Increasing the number of women appointed in leadership positions of media organisations and governing bodies is critical to creating an enabling environment that can also contribute to improving sensitive reporting around gendered topics like Sexual and Gender Based Violence.

Women are the focus of only 10% of news stories, comprise just 20% of experts or spokespeople interviewed, and a mere 4% of news stories are deemed to challenge gender stereotypes. Studies show that men are more likely to be quoted than women in the media, and more likely to cover "serious" topics. (Source: UNESCO “Women Make News 2018”)

The consequence of marginalising the voices and perspectives of women and the wider issue of gender imbalance in the newsroom are significant. We see this for example, in limited reporting on global gender empowerment instruments like the Women, Peace and Security agenda, the insufficient reporting on how environmental issues impact women, among other key global challenges.