MediaLab for Women

Project activities include the following:

1. Establishing a network of trainers
The project created an enhanced network of 8 data journalism trainers who were mainly taken from previous open-data-related CFI projects (Open Data Media 1 & 2). Training and support materials were also developed, with a focus on gender issues and creative story-telling using open data.

2. Selecting and training journalists
The project put out an invitation to take part in training courses on data-driven journalism and to produce innovative gender-related investigations. Out of a total of 250 submissions, 24 journalists, including 13 women, and 8 investigations were selected. The selection criteria were related to the relevance of the topic and the feasibility of the proposed investigation, incorporation of the gender approach, and identification of sources and editorial innovation, along with experience and interest in investigative journalism, digitisation, and open data.

Following the selection, the trainers provided a series of three-week training courses in each of the four countries. From March to July 2021, the 24 journalists (6 per country) received training in data journalism in the area of gender and gender inequality. They were taught how to collect, understand, and process open data made available by local and international authorities and organisations, and also how to make it accessible to the general public through attractive graphics, timelines, and maps.

At the start of the workshops, participants were split into groups of three to research and investigate two collaborative investigations per country, which would then be published and distributed across various media in December 2021. The collaborative investigations, which included open data as well as surveys and testimonies, covered various topics:

• In Madagascar, the two groups of journalists addressed equality in politics and early marriage.
• In Cameroon, the selected journalists investigated the effects of priority education zones on the schooling of young girls and the difficulty of including women in the implementation of agricultural policies.
• In Côte d'Ivoire, the investigations delved into the impact of COVID-19 on the income-generating activities of women and girls in Greater Abidjan's informal sector, as well as on gender inequality among the migrant community.
• In Niger, the journalists looked at the issue of gender equality and the representation of women in politics, as well as the reintegration of female hostages of Boko Haram in the Diffa region.

3. Providing support for the creation and dissemination of investigations into gender inequality
The investigations received funding and production support from the project, as well as support in disseminating the results of the investigations by partner journalists and media outlets. The project resulted in a number of media articles that, according to CFI, have helped rekindle debate around issues. In Cameroon, the results of the investigations, which took over 9 months, were released at an event attended by over twenty media outlets, representatives of the Cameroonian and French authorities, civil society stakeholders working on gender and human rights issues, and journalism students.

4. Supporting the Open Data pour Elles network
The project also supported communication workshops for members of the Open Data pour Elles network and helped integrate the organisation into regional French-speaking open data networks. Open Data pour Elles is an organisation that seeks to bring together women from 13 different nationalities from various backgrounds in an effort to mainstream the concept of open data for young women, promote the use of open data to support different areas of development and gender empowerment, and reduce the digital divide in French-speaking Africa.

Media Development, Gender

In French-speaking Africa, open data are a key source of information that journalists and media outlets need to harness in order to cover gender-related stories and educate people about gender inequality. However, not all of these data and statistics, which are available to government bodies, are broken down by gender, and, as a result, they do not provide sufficient information for gender-related issues. The expertise required to retrieve, analyse, and visualise these data also calls for specific skills.