Female reporters were equipped to take leadership roles in the newsroom, at the 2018 edition of the Report Women! Female Reporters’ Leadership Programme (FRLP) held from Monday, 1st October to Thursday, 4th October 2018 in Lagos.

The twenty female journalists for 2018were painstakingly selected from one hundred and ninety-nine applications received for the programme from nine countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, India, Iran, Malawi, Uganda, Palau, Tanzania, and Togo.

Report Women! Female Reporters Leadership Programme (FRLP) is an initiative of the WSCIJ supported by Free Press Unlimited (FPU) to empower female journalists with the skills that will embolden them to emerge as leaders in their various media organizations.

Motunrayo Alaka, the Centre Coordinator said the Report Women! Female Reporters’ Leadership Programme is WSCIJ’s response to addressing the leadership gap between males and females in Nigerian Newsrooms, which is hugely in favor of the men, up to ration 10 to 2 in some cases. The findings were deduced from a 2017 survey the organization conducted from data collected from 180 respondents from 85 media organizations in 28 states in Nigeria.

The reporters were taken through courses such as gender mainstreaming, security, gender-related policies and laws, managing conflicts, dealing with stereotypes, entrepreneurship, dealing with sexual harassment, ethics of journalism, public speaking, building confidence and more by seasoned resource persons.

The faculty included Eugenia Abu, veteran broadcaster and media consultant; Nneka Okekearu, Deputy Director at the Enterprise Development Center, Pan Atlantic University; Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, Executive Director of Women Advocate Research and Documentation Center (WARDC); Bethel Tsegaye, Programme Coordinator with Free Press Unlimited; Stella Din-Jacob, Chief Operating Officer at Mustel Creative Work; Motunrayo  Alaka, Coordinator WSCIJ; and Lekan Otufodunrin, Online Editor at The Nation Newspaper.

In their feed backs, participants expressed their gratitude to the resource persons, the WSCIJ and Free Press Unlimited.

“I am thinking of the best words to string together to capture exactly how inspiring the fellowship was for me in every way. Great job!” says Ejiro Mukoro, a participant from Trend 100.9 FM, Port Harcourt.

“Thanks a lot for inviting me. It was an experience of a lifetime”, remarks Adejoke Fayemi, another participant from DAAR Communication.