This month the GMDC will sign an MOU with the African Fathers Initiative. African Fathers Initiative is an Africa-wide organisation aiming at improving the well-being of children and families by promoting involved, responsible and committed fathers. We aim to build an African consensus that active involved fathers can improve men, women and children’s lives. From our base in Harare, Zimbabwe we involve all men and women who want to know more about the value of fathering and fatherhood initiatives throughout Africa.
The Gender and Media Diversity Centre is a physical and virtual resource centre that aims to create and disseminate knowledge on gender, media and diversity. The centre collects information, connects people with relevant information and promotes collaborative projects between partners. Gender Links (GL) manages the GMDC working in close collaboration with an advisory group drawn from the membership. The centre is run by an advisory group that meets twice a year.
The Centre has re-positioned itself as a coalition of institutions of higher learning offering journalism and media training. GL is working with the Southern African Broadcasting Association (SABA) and the GMDC, to “connect, collect and collaborate” on key gender, media and diversity issues in the Southern African Development Community on a Gender and Media Summit in August. Together they partnered in August 2016 to launch the Southern Africa arm of the Global Alliance on Media and Gender (GAMAG) during the 5th Gender and Media Summit and Awards
Only members who have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the GMDC are eligible to sit on the advisory group. The centre is run by an advisory group that meets twice a year.
The Centre aims to create a diverse, responsive media and critical citizenry that is able to hold the media accountable. The GMDC does this through three strategies: knowledge creation and dissemination; investing in future media producers and through public debates on issues of gender, media and diversity issues. The GMDC facilitates dialogue and resource sharing through its CoP.
Since the establishment of the GMDC in 2007, the institution has conducted seminars on gender and diversity in SADC including gender and leadership debates in the run-up to elections in seven SADC countries. The GMDC has also worked to empower citizens to engage critically with the media through its Media Literacy training programme. The institution has also extended this programme to Journalism and Media training institutions.
UNESCO first approached GL regarding the feasibility of establishing a centre that could be a source of information and thinking in the region, as well as internationally in 2005. UNESCO views Gender Links, with its pioneering work in gender and media in Southern Africa as a leader in gender and media issues in the region and beyond.
Comments, discussions, photos, videos, resources for and about fathers on the African continent are welcome. Our work at the African Fathers Initiative proceeds from an explicit commitment to gender equity. It does not challenge the importance of mothering or mothers’ rights to children, and it highlights the importance of parents working co-operatively for the interests of children. The website for the organisation is