Women's Research Center Organizes A Symposium On The Role Of Media In Activating Women's Community Participation
The Center for Women's Research and Studies at the Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University, organized an awareness symposium on Thursday morning, which was held under the title The Role of Media and Community Participation for Women, and which was held under the patronage of Professor Dr. Mohamed Othman El-Khosht, President of Cairo University, and Professor Dr. Hanan Gunaid, Dean of the Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University, with the support of Professor Dr. Muhammad Sami Abdel Sadiq, Vice President of the University for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs, and under the supervision and organization of Dr Nermin Ali Ajwa, Assistant Professor in the Faculty’s Department of Public Relations and Director of the Center for Women’s Research and Studies.
The Dean of the Faculty indicated that today’s symposium comes out of the interest that the state agencies and its political leadership give to Egyptian women in order to strengthen their position and empower them at all levels and fields, and what this requires of the necessity of working on their development, education, and enlightenment to keep pace with the requirements of the current stage, which is embodied in what is included in the Constitution principles and conventions of human rights.
Prof. Dr. Hanan Gunaid noted that talking about the role of the media in supporting women’s societal participation comes within the framework of what was included in Egypt’s report to the United Nations on women and their rights, in addition to the law on exercising political rights in terms of women’s representation in the House of Representatives, and speeches from the Presidency regarding Egyptian women, and the academic development and modernization program at the Faculty of Mass Comm., especially after obtaining international quality and accreditation, within the framework of the university’s vision of the necessity of strengthening the role of research centers.
The Dean of the Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University, indicated that today’s symposium integrates with the mission and objectives of the Women’s Center, which was established in 1996 as a scientific, research, training, and advisory unit of a special nature affiliated with the Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University. Its mission is focused on promoting media research that deals with women’s relationship with the media and the impact of the media on women’s status in Egypt and the Arab world, and advancing the professional and cultural level of Egyptian female media professionals.
Prof. Gunaid also indicated that it is one of the center’s objectives, which aims to advance media research that deals with women’s relationship with the media and the impact of the media on women’s status and roles in Egypt and the Arab world, providing the media decision-maker with its results, and providing an accurate and complete information base that is constantly updated about the situation of women in the media in the Arab world and contributing to the formulation of media policies for Egyptian and Arab women, through several fields, including scientific studies and research, education and community service, and training those related to women’s issues.
The Dean of the Faculty of Mass Communication noted that Egyptian women have made significant strides in achieving their rights, especially at the level of political and constitutional rights, and even contributing to the leadership of the movement for change and reform in society, which the political leadership has always supported and committed to, out of appreciation and loyalty to the role and status of women.
At the beginning of the activities of the awareness-raising symposium, in which a number of leaders in the press and media work and representatives of the Senate participated in the awareness-raising symposium, Professor Nermin Ali Ajwa, Director of the Center for Women’s Research and Studies, welcomed the guests of the symposium, which included Representative Dr. Samaa Suleiman, Undersecretary for Arab and African Affairs in the Senate, Ms. Samar Al-Desouki, editor-in-chief of Hawa magazine, in the presence of both the podium guests, Professor Dr. Ashraf Galal, Head of the Radio and Television Department, and Assistant Professor in the Journalism Department Dr. Asmaa Abu Zaid.
In her speech, Dr. Nermin Ali Ajwa expressed her great happiness at the platform’s guests’ response to the special invitation to participate in today’s symposium, which aims to raise the necessary awareness of the role of the media in enhancing women’s societal participation in electoral elections, and their role in creating the political future of the nation through achieving the mechanisms of free election and electoral representation to express the will to achieve and move the nation to a future that lives up to all the ambitions sought by all members of the nation in light of the call to build the new republic that is based on enhancing the role of women and their presence in society.
The Director of the Center for Women's Research and Studies noted that today's symposium seeks to shed light on the role of the media, which must be pointed out in the context of creating the political event of the presidential elections, which requires the media to urge and support the idea of the nation's people participating in free choice, regardless of the voters' choices of the desired candidates. Participation is the basis for expressing democracy, and applying its mechanisms through elections.
In his speech at the awareness symposium platform, Professor Dr. Ashraf Galal, Head of the Radio and Television Department, gave a presentation in which he explained the role of the media in enhancing women’s community participation by clarifying models of media work in events that require field or political participation, explaining that the media provides knowledge to its audience, which later contributes to shaping behavior and pushing citizens toward it, noting that studies and research point out that the media contributes to enhancing knowledge among the public to a large degree, but its role depends on shaping the trend and pushing behavior among citizens.
The head of the department referred to the models that the media follows in addition to the events related to electoral participation, noting the occurrence of four categories of the relationship of media presence to electoral participation, warning that studies indicate the danger of the media and society falling into a dangerous zone in which acceptable media coverage is not provided.
Dr. Samaa Suleiman, Undersecretary of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Senate, said that today’s symposium comes in light of the participation that women play in a remarkable and noteworthy role within the dome of Parliament in the Senate and House of Representatives, pointing out that the participation provided by women is what contributed to raising the shares of their presence in the Republic, President Sisi directed support to raise the percentage of women’s representation in the Senate to 20% instead of 10%, due to women’s participation in electoral elections with a representation rate of only 55%, which is considered an indication that electoral elections are one of the images that express the presence of women and their presence in community affairs, which contributes to creating political scene.
The representative in the Senate pointed out that the representation of women in Parliament, in the House of Representatives or the Senate, serves both women and men, noting that the presence and representation of women in parliament contributes to the discussion of many issues, the benefits of which are not limited to women only, but also extend to men. Also, calling for supporting media guidance for women; in order to contribute more to attendance and representation in electoral events by introducing them to the importance of women’s representation in Parliament.
In her speech, Ms. Samar Al-Desouki, editor-in-chief of Hawa magazine, said that women’s societal participation in electoral elections comes in light of presenting the image of Egypt as a democratic country that contributes and helps all its children to advance internally and externally, pointing out that the status of Egyptian women and the history of their participation in the events that have passed throughout Egypt’s modern history Since the revolution of 1919 until now, it has been forced to contribute to shaping the scene of Egypt’s future future, by participating in the upcoming presidential elections, regardless of its choices for the candidate in whom it sees the image of the head of the Egyptian state.
She pointed out that the media must make women aware of the benefits of women presence at the headquarters of the electoral committees, indicating that when the media directs the need for women to participate and enhance their presence in these electoral elections, it thus contributes to strengthening the mechanisms for expressing free choice and practicing democracy and advancing ways of political representation for Egyptian women in the future.
In addition, Dr. Asmaa Abu Zeid, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism at the Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University, addressed in a presentation the most prominent indicators of women’s political empowerment, where she explained that women’s political participation increased during the recent electoral elections with a representation rate approaching 60%, indicating that women’s presence is represented. In the Egyptian Parliament, the 2020 Parliament increased significantly by more than 100 seats, and the superiority of the presence of Egyptian women and their choice of representative in the Egyptian Senate appeared by a rate approaching 20%, which is one of the indicators that contributed to the necessity of strengthening the role and status of women and prompted the media to highlight this through media treatments that are published and broadcast to Egyptian citizens, which contribute to increasing their attendance and participation in current and future electoral elections.
Dr. Asmaa Abu Zeid called on the media to pay attention to directing media treatments during the coming period to more positive models that contribute to pushing the women’s sector and Egyptian women to participate to greater degrees, by directing the media contents that express them and the history of their participation in creating important events, including electoral elections. .