● <B> You?ve been unanimously elected as chairperson of the GEMSA network. Could you tell us a bit more about the network? </B>

It?s a network of organizations that works with gender and the media in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The network was established six years ago. Some of the organizations comprising it existed already so they simply added GEMSA to their names. In Mauritius, for example, the chapter is called Media Watch Organization-GEMSA (MWO-GEMSA). It?s worth noting that the creation of GEMSA encouraged countries where such organizations did not exist to set up their own chapters. Currently, 14 such chapters exist.

I?m very proud to have been unanimously elected by the members of GEMSA and hope that I?ll fulfill all their expectations. I still have a lot to learn and am open to any suggestions.

● <B> What differentiates GEMSA from existing networks? </B>

Without wanting to seem pretentious, there is no comparable network in the world. GEMSA is unique because it does a lot of research on women in the press and, especially, the way they are depicted in the various media. GEMSA also focuses on women and good governance. For example, one of GEMSA?s current projects is looking at women in local communities.

Through GEMSA, there have been many positive changes in the SADC region. In particular, it has created awareness about the need for more women in politics, in the economy and in the media. GEMSA collaborates extensively with journalists and other stakeholders in the field of research. The network also works with various professionals in order to publish specialized supplements.

● <B> What tasks and responsibilities await you as chairperson of GEMSA? </B>

Up till now, I was only in charge of a single GEMSA chapter, namely MWO-GEMSA. I?ll have to get to know the way they function, their differences, and the obstacles that they?ll have to overcome in order to become more effective. My wish is for GEMSA to become a true idea bank in which each chapter will be able to contribute its best practices and share them with the others in the aim of adapting them to the contexts in the different countries.

● <B> What are your immediate objectives for the network? </B>

During the regional conference on gender and media, which was held in Johannesburg last week, the two Swedish representatives of Everything is possible, an NGO, presented an exposé on the situation in Sweden and evoked the possibility of compiling a directory of female sources. It seems like a good idea to compile a directory of female sources for the 14 chapters of GEMSA. The directory will greatly facilitate the work of journalists. And if this project really takes off, it could vastly improve and increase the use of female sources in the press. We will be able to ascertain its impact during our press monitoring exercise of 2009.

GEMSA also works extensively with Gender Links (GL). The project dealing with women in local communities has been created in collaboration with GL. In Mauritius, this project has gained great impetus. We organized workshops in different town halls, district councils and villages. The training is ongoing. There is an enormous amount of interest in this project, which aims, ultimately, to promote the access of women to politics. We are thinking of using the Mauritian experience as a model. We have advisors within MWO-GEMSA who continue to work in the field.

● <B> The representation of women in politics in Mauritius is rather low. What are your objectives in this field? </B>

The challenge for the Mauritian general elections, which will take place in 2010, will be to ensure that the representation of women in politics triples. Currently, women comprise only 17% of the Parliament, 11.2% in municipalities and 5.2% in district councils. This project dovetails with the SADC Protocol on gender and development. This document stipulates that 50% of decision-making authorities should be comprised of women before 2015. Another important project for GEMSA is a detailed study on the care given by women to those suffering from HIV/AIDS. This care, which is dispensed by housewives and professionally-active women who have to leave their jobs to look after the sick, is usually non-remunerated. These services should be remunerated.