Empowering Women in Politics: Challenges and Achievements

Regional Media training on Women s Political Participation Johannesburg, South Africa , 7-9 March 2022, Sifiso Nhlabatsi Women MPs facing uphill battle Published on : 27 January 2021 Follow up story published/broadcast on : Enhancing Women's Political Participation through media.

SYNOPSIS My presentation will be based on a story I wrote about women Mbers of Parliament and the challenges that they are faced with while executing their duties. Iny story I also focused on what are some of the achievements by the women MPs. I managed to get hold of them and had an interview where they shared their stories. Enhancing Womens Political Participation through media

Background In my article I wrote about Women MPs and the challenges they come across while executing their duties in Parliament. This story is relevant because it highlights the battles fought by women in the political arena which is largely dominated by males. This is a timely story because Eswatini is gearing towards elections and I think it is important for the media to give women in politics some space. Enhancing Women s Political Participation through media

Key Objectives The coverage hopes to raise awareness and change of attitude towards women who are in politics. It also aims at looking at whether policies which seek to promote women politicians are indeed effective in the country My story is responding to the challenges faced by women in politics. As Eswatini is strongly rooted in a patriarchy it is important to highlight what women in politics go through. This story will raise awareness and gunner for policy changes that will see women engaging in politics freely Enhancing Women s Political Participation through media

Target audience I hoped to reach members of the public at large, women politicians, policy makers, aspiring politicians, the youth, traditional authorities and Parliamentarians. Enhancing Women's Political Participation through media

Sources and accessibility I conducted interviews from primary sources, I also used secondary data from articles produced by NGOs advocating for human rights Enhancing Women s Political Participation through media

Challenges encountered in putting the story together Challenges included getting hold of the women MPs as most of the time they were caught up with other projects. Another challenge was that when I did the story the country was under hard lockdown making it impossible to go to the different communities getting face to face interviews. Enhancing Women's Political Participation through media

Impact I managed to reach a huge audience as my story was produced in local papers and also shared online Enhancing Womens Political Participation through media

Feedback I did get feedback from the women MPs that they are happy about the articles as they also received feedback after the article was published on the newspaper with a wide readership Enhancing Women's Political Participation through media

Follow up story published I am still working on a follow up story where I m planning to have an interview with the Senate President who is a woman. Enhancing Women's Political Participation through media