By Nellie Chepkemoi Jun 3, 2025

The Generation Equality Media forum aimed to connect media professionals and #GenerationEquality commitment makers from East and Southern Africa, exploring effective strategies for the media to champion gender equality.

Representing Nalafem Collective, Ms Nellie Chepkemoi (Kenya) joined a panel aimed at showcasing strides by various organizations towards gender equality. We tackled the uncomfortable truths—how the media can either spotlight injustice or cloak it in silence. Kenya’s femicide crisis is one stark example where victim-blaming and neutral reporting on perpetrators quietly uphold a culture of impunity.

We also highlighted how many political women leaders are still flattened into caricatures—reduced to their outfits, emotions, or family status, while their voices are sidelined in important decision-making discussions. This isn’t just bias, but erasure!

UN Women’s Regional Director for ESA Anna Mutavati captured it best: “What societies value is reflected in the stories they tell—or fail to tell.”

The collective called for;

❖ The media follows the work of young women-led organizations

❖ Consulting feminist experts and activists in your stories.

❖ The media is building content partnerships that elevate these voices.

Nalafem also introduced the I Am Nala Leadership Academy, spotlighting the next generation of African feminist leaders. We urged the media to move from amplification to allyship. From coverage to collaboration.

The forum also explored the intersection between gender, conflict, and climate, like how Sudanese women are rewriting narratives of peace in wartime, despite being pushed to the margins.

Let’s not just rewrite stories, let’s rewrite power.

#GenderEquality #FeministMedia #GenerationEquality #Nalafem.

The #GenerationEquality regional media forum had representatives from over 14 countries across East and Southern Africa.

At the #GenerationEquality forum, women changemakers, Media, and Commitment makers from ESA are all for #GenderEquality.

“The way stories are told or not told determines what societies value, what gets funded, and what policies are pursued in action. Anna Mutavati, Regional Director for ESA at UN Women.”