DIPOLOG CITY, Aug. 24 (PIA) - The local government unit of Dipolog is gearing up for an inclusive and gender-sensitive media landscape in the city.

Local media professionals, including school paper advisers from the different high schools in the city, attended the Gender and Media Summit-Workshop spearheaded by LGU-Dipolog, in partnership with the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW).
 
The event held at Museo Dipolog, underscored the role of media in promoting women's political participation, power, leadership and decision-making. It also serves as the venue for sharing good practices in the media and an avenue to promote gender-sensitivity and gender responsiveness in all forms of media.
 
Mayor Darel Dexter Uy, in his message which was delivered by City Councilor Marilou Calibo, emphasized the importance of intensifying the awareness and knowledge about gender and development among media practitioners.

"It is imperative that as storytellers, communicators, and influencers, we understand the immense power our words and images hold," he said.
 
He likened the media to mirrors reflecting society's values and norms, a compelling reason on the great responsibility the fourth estate of society is beholden, "ensuring that reflections it cast are accurate, fair, and sensitive to the diverse experiences of the members of the community."
 
"As media practitioners, you play a key role in shaping perceptions, dismantling biases, and promoting inclusivity."
 
Atty. Khristine Kay Lazarito-Calingin, chief GAD specialist of PCW-Northern Mindanao Field Office presented the GAD framework and its basic concepts as part of the orientation and workshop of the activity.
 
She stressed that gender and development is not about overpowering men but about including women in the discussion and achieving gender equality.
 
"It refers to looking into the capability of a person regardless of gender," she said.
 
The activity also tackles gender-fair communication and language, and gender-fair media as a whole.
 
PCW is also conducting the second leg of the Safe Spaces Act and Prohibition on Child Marriage Law Orientation and Workshop Caravan in Region 9 slated in Dipolog from August 23-25, simultaneous with the Gender and Media Summit. (NBE/EDT/PIA Zamboanga del Norte)