11 Jun 2019 Global Media Monitoring Project findings ‘serve humanity’

The impact of the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) cannot be overstated, says journalist-activist Amie Joof.

“The findings serve humanity,” says Joof, who is director at FAMEDEV, the Inter-African Network forWomen, Gender Equity and Development, the GMMP sub-regional coordinating organisation for West and Central Africa. “Since 1995, the GMMP has systematically monitored the news across the world, for one day, every five years. It continues to bring to light the systematic silencing and stereotyping of women’s voices by and in the media. It helps us to set and influence the agenda at the national, regional and global levels.”

Joof says she began volunteering for the GMMP since 2005 because of her passion for human rights and for protecting the rights and freedoms of women, girls, youth, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups. “I wanted to acquire the knowledge, skills, expertise and experience that would be shared with others and that would guide me in my work on the continent.”

She hasn’t been disappointed. Her experience at the GMMP has been “the best experience I have had in more than three decades of my career lifespan,” says Joof.

Joof has contributed write-ups to the GMMP global reports and used her experience in the various networks she belongs to. She has trained women, men and youth in media monitoring. FAMEDEV has also adapted the GMMP methodology to monitor media reporting on poverty in West Africa from a gender perspective.

Photo above: Amie Joof is director at FAMEDEV, the Inter-African Network for Women, Gender Equality and Development. She has contributed write-ups to the Global Media Monitoring Project’s global reports.