Remarks by UN Resident Coordinator at Meeting on Reporting on SDGs, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment,

Hon. Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Ms. Susan Paul Mlawi;

UN Women Tanzania Representative, Ms. Hodan Addou;

Senior editors and journalists of the Tanzania;

NGOs, CSOs and communications officers;

And UN Colleagues;

Good morning everyone,

On behalf of the United Nations in Tanzania, once again I’d like to welcome you all to the Inception Meeting on Reporting on Sustainable Development Goals, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in the United Republic of Tanzania.

The seventeen Global Goals, adopted in 2015 by all member states, aim to achieve a very ambitious agenda by 2030. Agenda 2030 envisages an end to extreme poverty, in a manner that also protects the environment, saves the planet, and ensures prosperity for all. In order to achieve this agenda, we need to ensure no one is left behind – this is especially true for women and girls. We cannot move forward when half of us are being held back. Making sure that women and girls are not left behind is only possible if we create an environment that encourages them, inspires them and empowers them. This is where we need the media to step in.

Additionally, to achieve gender equality, we need data that truly reflects the lived realities of women and girls. Such data can tell us where we have made progress, what works and where we can do better. Earlier this month, UN Women’s report on Turning Promises into Action: Gender Equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Developmentuncovered that there are significant gaps for women’s empowerment in all sectors, and puts forth a robust agenda to shift gears and accelerate our work in the gender-responsive implementation of the Global Goals. The report further highlights inequalities and challenges faced by women but also identifies the solutions and opportunities for mainstreaming gender equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

And so, this brings us to today’s inception meeting on gender-responsive reporting of the Global Goals: to know where we need to improve, we need to measure where we are lacking. This holds especially true for reporting of gender issues in media, and that is why we are all here today – to establish the key targets and indicators of a media monitoring tool that will help establish the status of Gender in Media in Tanzania.

We are fortunate to have a vibrant and engaging media scene in Tanzania, one that is already committed to upholding the principles of ethical reporting and has been a long-standing partner of the UN in Tanzania and UN Women. Your role as an agent of change is crucial to the successful implementation of the Global Goals and achieving gender equality by 2030. Through your articles, programmes, photographs, radio shows and editorials, you shape the thoughts and beliefs of the people of your country. This is why, through you, we hope to reach thousands of Tanzania to advocate for a news story on the Tanzanian women and girl. A story that focuses on a woman’s confidence, intelligence, successes and contributions to the development of the country. As agents of change, media personnel like you, have a unique position and power to influence attitudinal and behavioural changes in society. To spark this change, we will first need to outline and measure all the gaps and address them in a systematic and organic manner, one that is validated and accepted by all the key stakeholders, like yourself.

You will hear more about the details of this project, and the extremely technical and comprehensive processed that will be undertaken by UN Women over the course of this year. But before all that, I would like to take a minute to congratulate you all – decisions are made by those who show up – and everyone present here today has already taken the first and most important step by committing your time and expertise to this process. Once again, thank you for making time to joining us – we all know how busy your schedules are and we are very encouraged by your active interest and participation. We hope to continue working together with all of you to create greater stories focusing on changing the minds and attitude on gender stereotypes and biases. We hope that you use this opportunity to the fullest extent and look critically, not just at one another, but also inwards, and ask yourself, what else can be done to promote women and girls of Tanzania through media.

I wish you well and hope you have a productive day ahead.

Asante Sana!