Media professionals play a critical role in democratic governance, public accountability, social justice and inclusive development. Yet women working in media in Uganda face systemic challenges from safety and discrimination to regulatory and technological barriers, that limit their full participation, voice and influence. We therefore call on all presidential candidates and the next elected government of Uganda to commit to gender-just, inclusive, safe and sustainable media ecosystems, where women in all media roles are supported, protected and empowered.
The Key Asks draw on existing gender-and-media research in Uganda and align with the proposed nine themes:
- Fair Representation and Portrayal in the Media
- Safety and Security of Women in Media
- Equipment / Materials Taxation and Support for Media Production
- Equal Treatment of Media Houses in Government Advertising / Support
- Gender-and-Inclusive Media Training Curriculum
- Regular and Active Interactions between the Fourth Estate and Government
- Support the Establishment of a Media Think-Tank
- Technology, Digital Media and Access
- Regulatory Bodies: Support Not Policing; Engendered Media Laws
Why this Matters
- Media freedom and gender equality are mutually reinforcing: when women are equally empowered in media, reporting is more inclusive, diverse and reflective of society’s interests.
- As Uganda prepares for the upcoming General elections (Presidential / Parliamentary and Lower Government), safeguarding women’s participation in media, both as professionals and as sources, is essential for democratic legitimacy and accountability.
- Addressing taxation, technology, regulatory and structural barriers ensures that women-led and community media thrive, thereby strengthening media pluralism and reducing inequality.
- Supporting women in media contributes to broader societal goals: gender equality (SDG 5), decent work (SDG 8), reduced inequalities (SDG 10) and inclusive institutions (SDG 16).
- Unequal representation: Male dominates leads to less diversity in convent and perspectives affecting how women’s issues are portrayed and discussed.
Key Thematic Demands
1. Fair Representation and Portrayal in the Media
The Issues
- Women and girls in Uganda are not only under/misrepresented, but are accorded minimal space in the media. The Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) Reports indicate that women as news subjects appear only 23% against men whose views are 77% presented.
- Persistent gender bias in editorial choices further exclude majority voices, affecting policy and development.
- The Responsible Government bodies have not applied the gender policy in the media.
- While only three of over 400 media houses in Uganda have gender policies, it is difficult to confirm that the three regularly apply them.
Key Asks
- Develop and implement a gender policy for the media.
- Enforce gender and inclusion in licencing and regulation.
- Integrate gender media monitoring into media oversight, and support similar ongoing initiatives.
- Review and reform media law to promote gender equality.
2. Safety and Security of Women in Media
The Issues
- Women journalists and media workers face gender-based violence, including the technologically facilitated abuse, and other forms of threats, especially when covering sensitive issues or exercising public scrutiny, including writing about politicians, political rallies.
- Physical threats, intimidation or censorship create chilling effects on women’s voices and limit their participation. Statistics show that a significant majority of women performing public roles like journalism face physical threats and intimidation, leading to high rates of self-censorship and withdrawal from public life. For instance, 73% of women journalists have suffered online violence, with 25% receiving physical threats.
- There is minimal or lack of institutional support (from media houses, regulators or government) for protection, redress or insurance for media-women, in Uganda.
Key Asks to Candidates / Government
- Establish a national mechanism (within e.g. the Uganda Media Council, Uganda Communications Commission, UCC or other oversight body) to monitor, record, respond to and sanction threats/violence against women media professionals.
- Ensure that media houses (public and private) adopt gender-safe workplace policies (including harassment codes, reporting lines, psychosocial support) as part of licensing / association compliance.
- Guarantee that digital safety (against online abuse, gendered disinformation and deep-fake attacks) is recognized, with training and legal protections made available to women in media.
- Guarantee: “no intimidation for doing their job”; ensure full investigative freedom regardless of gender.
3. Equipment / Materials Taxation and Support for Media Production
The Issues
- Media production, especially by smaller or not-for-profit outlets (including those run by women) is hampered by high import duties / taxes on equipment, materials, consumables and technologies, as well as requirements by the Regulators.
- Women-led or community-based media often operate on tighter budgets. Such barriers and costs can widen gender disparities.
- Over-taxing or making the operating environment tough for media production, etc, is making it difficult for the population to access information, and engage in public discourse. Since information is a public good, it should not be made difficult to access. While the minimum amount broadcast licence fees for radio station is close to Ugx 10 million, all broadcast equipment are 45% taxable.
Key Asks
- Introduce tax relief, duty waivers and reduced tariffs for media production equipment and materials (with special carve-out for women-led and community media outlets).
- Relax some of the requirements to operate a radio station e.g. automated doors should not be regarded as a major requirement for any station.
- Create a fund / grant scheme for women media professionals and women-led media enterprises to access equipment, training and production resources.
- Ensure transparent and equitable access to government advertising and funding (not to disadvantage smaller / women-led outlets).
4. Equal Treatment of Media Houses in Government Advertising / Support
The Issues
- Government advertising and public-sector media contracts / disbursements often favour larger, established media houses, with fewer opportunities for smaller or women-led outlets. Yet the latter outlets, more than the commercial stations, are more likely anchored within the country’s development agenda, serving larger communities often sidelined by commercial media.
- Unequal treatment reduces pluralism, reinforces gender biases in media ownership, and limits the diversification of perspectives.
Key Asks
- Adopt a transparent, criteria-based framework for allocation of government/public sector advertising, media subsidies or sponsorships, ensuring fair access to all media houses, including those that are women-owned / led or not-for-profit.
- Mandate the Uganda Communications Commission, UCC to publish periodic audits of government advertising spent by media house, disaggregated by ownership and gender where possible.
- Encourage affirmative support: e.g., require a minimum percentage of government media-advertising to go to women-owned / led media outlets.
5. Gender-and-Inclusive Media Training Curriculum
The Issues
- Media professionals often lack training in gender-sensitive reporting, inclusive language, diversity and intersectionality. This perpetuates stereotypes, and under / mis-representation compounded into biases and inequalities, further contributing to underdevelopment.
- Majority women media workers do not receive equal access to professional development and leadership / management training.
Commitments
- Work with media associations (including Uganda Media Women’s Association, UMWA) to develop and roll-out a national training curriculum on gender-inclusive media, covering: gender equality in reporting, editorial processes, leadership, digital safety, inclusive language, disability-sensitive coverage, etc.
- Ensure that all media training institutions integrate this curriculum into their programs.
- Create and support mentorship and leadership‐pathway support for women in media, ensuring that women are prepared for senior editorial, managerial, and ownership roles.
6. Regular and Active Interactions between the Fourth Estate and Government
The Issues
- A more collaborative, accountable and transparent relationship between government / officials and media is essential, but this is often missing.
- Women in media are often excluded from key briefings, press opportunities, or decision-making spaces.
Key Asks
- Establish a formal platform (e.g., quarterly “Media-Government Roundtable”) where media practitioners, with gender-balanced representation engage with high-level government officials and regulators to discuss media policy, regulation, access, safety, technology and inclusive development.
- Government ministries, agencies and parastatals to provide equal access to press briefings, data and information to all accredited media houses, including women-led / community media.
- Ensure that government communications units have designated and provided adequate and timely support to gender-focal persons to ensure inclusive engagement with women journalists and media outlets.
7. Support the Establishment of a Media Think-Tank
The Issues
- The media ecosystem in Uganda lacks a dedicated, independent think-tank focused on media policy, gender in media, emerging technologies (AI, digital media), pluralism, media sustainability and development.
- Without this, policy gaps remain unaddressed and women’s media interests may not be effectively researched or advocated for.
Commitments
- The Government should support (financially and institutionally) the establishment of an independent Uganda Media & Gender Policy Institute/Think-Tank (with multi-stakeholder governance).
- This institute should regularly conduct research on women in media, media ownership, digital safety, media economics, taxation impact, regulation, and provide policy briefs, data and advocacy.
- Ensure women’s representation in the governance and staffing of the think-tank, and fund fellowships/grants for women researchers in media.
8. Technology, Digital Media and Access
The Issues
- Rapid media technology change (digital platforms, mobile, AI, deep-fakes) presents opportunities, but also gendered risks (exclusion, harassment, lack of training) for women in media.
- Rural or under-resourced women-led media outlets struggle to access new technologies, broadband, digital literacy, or mobile infrastructure.
Key Asks
- The Government should ensure universal access to affordable, high-quality digital connectivity (including in rural areas), with media houses (especially women-led/community ones) included in the roll-out.
- Provide targeted tech-training programs for women media professionals in digital media production, data journalism, online safety, AI tools, etc.
- Encourage adoption of digital platforms by women in media, and create incentives (grants, tax rebates, public procurement preferences) for women-led media to adopt new technologies.
- Encourage open data policies and access to government information to support data-driven journalism (and women’s participation in it).
9. Regulatory Bodies: Support Not Policing; Engendered Media Laws
The Issues
- Regulatory institutions (UCC, Uganda Media Council etc) have sometimes been perceived as policing rather than enabling media freedom, which can disproportionately affect women journalists and smaller outlets.
- Existing media laws and policies often lack gender-sensitive provisions (ensuring women’s rights, inclusive language, anti-harassment, digital safety etc).
- The media landscape in Uganda is largely male-controlled, with women owning very few media houses and holding minimal leadership positions, a trend that has persisted despite growth in media outlets. Even in major media houses, female leadership is rare, with early reports showing few women heading large companies like NTV, Monitor, or Vision Group.
Key Asks
- Reform media regulation such that regulatory bodies act primarily as facilitators, supporting media pluralism, inclusion, sustainability and professionalism, rather than purely enforcement-driven.
- Conduct a full review and gender audit of existing media laws, regulations, licensing frameworks and institutional mandates; then amend to integrate gender-responsiveness, digital rights, women’s safety, inclusive ownership and access.
- Mandate gender-disaggregated data collection within media regulation (i.e., track number of women in media roles, women-led media outlets, gendered distribution of advertising).
- Require media houses (as part of regulation/licensing) to demonstrate gender-equality in staffing, content, leadership and policy.
Implementation and Accountability
Candidates and elected government should commit to time-bound targets (e.g., within 12 months: set up the national mechanism on safety; within 24 months: media training curriculum rolled out; within 36 months: technology access interventions completed).
Annual public reporting by the relevant ministries/regulators on progress against these commitments, tracked and published by the media think-tank proposed above.
Civil society (including UMWA and other women-media associations) to be included as observers and accountability partners.
Budget lines in the national budget dedicated to supporting these interventions (equipment grants, training, research institute, connectivity access).
About Uganda Media Women’s Association, UMWA
The Uganda Media Women’s Association, UMWA was founded in 1983 by a group of 48 female journalists as a mutual benefit organization. In the 1980s, the only umbrella Journalists’ Association (Uganda Journalists Association, UJA) available would not cater for, or recognize the concerns or contributions of female journalists. Women were absent in the association’s leadership. Besides, the media were hugely gender insensitive, women’s visibility and portrayal were highly wanting despite forming over 50% of Uganda’s population. The Press did not make adequate acknowledgement of their achievements or aspirations. In 1997, UMWA became a human rights and advocacy NGO for the promotion of women and other marginalized groups and, media freedoms but the female journalists remained part of the association’s immediate beneficiaries. UMWA has worked with over 2,500 female journalists, across the country.
UMWA leads in the promotion of the gender agenda in Uganda’s media having spearheaded several activities in that direction including training of both media managers and practitioners in gender; several studies on the gender representation and portrayal in the media; designed tens of Training Manuals on Gender and selected topics; gender audited media laws, and with gender lenses, monitor the published media content for possible reform; and executing the first ever Annual Gender Media Awards in 2017. UMWA is the national focal organization of the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP). Founded in 1995, GMMP is the only global exercise done every five years to establish the gender dimensions in the media content. The most recent survey was done May 2025, with UMWA doing the Uganda Country Report that established a stagnation in the portrayal / visibility of women over the year.
UMWA founded and has managed two media developmental outlets (101.7 Mama FM, 2001; and The Other Voice Newspaper, 1997). The two continue to keep the gender debate alive in Uganda.
UMWA is headed by a 7-member Board of Directors, while the day-to-day activities are spearheaded by a full-time Executive Director, who works with competent men and women to drive the gender agenda in the media. The organization is registered with the Registrar of Companies and also under the 1989 NGO Statute, as No. S.5914/1535. UMWA’s headquarters is located in Kisaasi, eight kilometres north-west of Kampala City.
UMWA’s Strategic Vision 2023/2027 is: An engendered media where gender equality, women’s empowerment, and social inclusion are upheld for holistic sustainable development. The Mission is: To engender media through information sharing, capacity-strengthening, networking and advocacy in order to enhance the visibility and status of women.
