The Sunday Mail
Gender and Community Affairs Editor
WAN-IFRA’s Women in News (WIN) Leadership Accelerator programme graduates will convene on Thursday for a skills-building and networking conference.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Senator Monica Mutsvangwa will headline the event, the first-ever conference for the Zimbabwe alumni chapter.
The programme has been providing women in the media a platform to network since 2010.
Gender and Media Connect national director Ms Patience Zirima will address the alumni on safety and security for women. Also, founder and executive director of internet content platforms Techzim and Pindula, Mr Limbikani Makani, will make a presentation on the topic “Entrepreneurship: Harvesting your skills for additional revenue”.
Susan Makore
The conference will provide WIN alumni an opportunity to discuss the state of the media and explore ways they can collaborate with each other and younger women in the industry.
Director (advisory and insights) at WAN-IFRA WIN, Mrs Susan Makore, said: “This is a time we are coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic and a number of women have been affected.
“Some lost their jobs, and others had their salaries cut. Sometimes, when journalists — both men and women, who are celebrities in society — lose their jobs, some become paupers.
“The conference is meant to build female journalists’ skills so that if they find themselves out of work for some reason, they are able to make their way in the world.
“So, there are also issues around livelihood and how women journalists can survive.”
She said in some parts of the world, journalists were committing suicide as they struggled to make ends meet after losing their jobs.
“That is why we are bringing Limbikani Makani to speak about skills building,” she added.
“It’s because we want to show journalists that they can be entrepreneurs; legitimate side hustles have become important in this time.”
Discussions around safety and security of journalists also come at a time Zimbabwe is preparing for general elections.
