“Do not slow down on your work of Reporting on SGBV, ” WLSA National Director Maureen Samulela-Tresha counsels Journalists
Zambian Children Young People and Women in Development (ZCYPWD) Monday 6th April 2015 – Picture by Derrick Sinjela
By Christopher Chisi
WOMEN and Law in Southern African (WLSA) National Director, Maureen Samulela-Tresha has encouraged the media to continue reporting on Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) if the fight against the scourge is to yield the desired results.
Speaking during a Media Training on ‘Framing Stories on SGBV’ co-organised by WLSA and Equality Now at Asmara Hotel in Lusaka on Tuesday 22nd December, 2020
Ms. Samulela-Tresha said going forward, in 2021, the Zambian media must therefore not slow down in their work but continue writing and reporting more stories on SGBV in order to create more awareness on the subject at hand.
Ms. Samulela-Tresha singled out SGBV against children urging parents and guardians to always get involved in protecting and taking good care of not only their biological children but also those of their neighbours in the community by reporting cases of SGBV against children.
The WLSA National Director noted that the importance of protecting children that had been abused before can not be over emphasized and stressed the need to ensure that
cases of SGBV against children do not go unreported.
“Let us not slow down on our work even as we go into 2021,lets us keep working towards protecting those children.For those of you who have had contact with children who have been abused you would appreciate the importance of having as many people as possible on board to protect children.For those who have children everyone should get involved in protecting them not only yours but even your neighbours’ , ” Ms. Samulela-Tresha advised.
And Ms. Samulela-Tresha observed that working with the media, the organisation has managed to score a number of achievements in fighting SGBV, as WLSA has been able to reach out to far-flung, rustic or rural areas which are beyond it’s catchment area.
The Women and Law in Southern Africa National Director commended the Zambian and global media for helping the organisation to sensitise and disseminate information to the masses on SGBV, stressing that women and the girl-child suffer the brunt of the noted aggression.
“We have done great works working with the media because for WLSA, we know that we are restricted to maybe Northern Province, Luangwa in Lusaka Province Chikankata (Southern Province), but we also know that with the partnership with yourselves [Media] we have reached way more people who are beyond our boundaries. So this is a big thumps up to the partnership we have with the media,” she said.
During the same meeting several journalists from various print and electronic media were recognised for their contribution towards the fight against SGBV.
5FM 89.9 Frequency Modulation journalist, Christopher Chisi, Dorothy Chisi from the Times of Zambia (ToZ), Juliet Makwama from Millenium Radio 90.5FM, Masuzyo Chakwe from The Mast Newspaper, Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC’s) Constance Matongo, Zambian Children Young People and Women in Development (ZCYPWD) as well as Freelance Journalist Ann Zulu were among the awardees.
5FM NEWS -25 DEC-2020-ENDS.///
