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Journalist decries women’s underrepresentation in Lira’s media and public discourse

26 May 2025, 12:34 pm

By Byamukama Alozious

During a gender-sensitive reporting training for journalists in the Lango subregion, Marion Ajwang, a journalist with The Cooperator News, raised concern over the continued marginalisation of women in both media content and media institutions.

The training which gathered more than 20 participants from different media houses in Lango, held at Pacific Hotel in Lira city, was organised by the Uganda Media Women’s Association (UMWA) in partnership with the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME), Editors Guild, and Uganda Radio Network (URN). It was funded by the Royal Danish Embassy and the Embassy of the Netherlands, Embassy of Sweden and Embassy of Ireland.

Executive Director UMWA, Margaret Ssentamu passing on skills to Marion during the training session before she raised the marginalisation concerns of women in media and in public spaces.

Ajwang noted that women’s voices are largely absent in key sectors such as agriculture, land rights, economic development, and social justice, while most media attention goes to political stories a space where women are often sidelined.

“I know of a woman in Amuca, west of Lira city, who is doing well in coffee farming, but she has never received any media coverage,” Ajwang said. “This training has challenged me as a journalist to follow up on her and give her story a platform.”

Ajwang also highlighted the media’s failure to expose injustices faced by vulnerable women. She cited the case of a woman with a disability whose land was grabbed by family members, even with police involvement. Media attempts to highlight her story were not sustained, and justice was never served.

UMWA, through this training, is working to change that. The organisation is actively building the capacity of journalists to report in a gender-sensitive manner, amplify women’s voices, and hold the media accountable for inclusive coverage. Through its M-SPACE project, UMWA is also monitoring how the media represents marginalised voices, with the aim of influencing newsroom policies and editorial decisions.

“Even when we try to bring these stories out, without collective media effort, they go unheard,” Ajwang said. “This training is a wake-up call for all of us to be more intentional.”

She urged her colleagues in the media to join the effort to advocate for women’s rights and ensure that unheard voices are not left behind