Meet GMMP Uganda Coordinator Margaret B. Sentamu

07 Nov Meet GMMP Uganda Coordinator Margaret B. Sentamu

Name: Margaret B. Sentamu
GMMP Coordinator for: Uganda
Since: 2015

Why are you a GMMP coordinator? What motivated you to lead the GMMP?

What motivated me to lead the GMMP in Uganda is twofold, apart from my organization Uganda Media Women’s Association (UMWA) being the lead in the promotion of the gender agenda in Uganda’s media.

Studying Women and Gender Studies, at a master’s level, gave me an opportunity to analyze the situation of women in various sectors including the media. Women were, and still are, doing badly in all sectors; the discrimination, marginalization is written across the board.

But being aware that the media can be a powerful tool in shaping opinions, I saw a great opportunity in GMMP. For me, GMMP provides evidence that can be used to lobby the powers that be for much-needed change.

How are you using the GMMP methodology, tools and findings? How have any of these dimensions of the GMMP shaped the work of your organization, institution or network?

Ever since UMWA was introduced to GMMP, we have been motivated to apply the methodology in all the studies we have done on media and gender, on gender-based violence (GBV) stories, including gender presentation in security-related, but also in political-related, stories, especially during the election time.

What positive change has the GMMP driven in your context? What contribution has it made to the process towards gender equality in or through the media?

The GMMP has made positive change in Uganda’s context. Majority media managers now look forward to hearing from UMWA about the status of the media as far as gender and social inclusion is concerned.

Several of the media houses UMWA has worked with on the project “Media for Gender Equality and Social Justice: Leaving No One Behind,” itself motivated by our GMMP, have since made positive steps in gender responsiveness.

Several have developed home-grown gender guidelines to track gender in media content, while others have organized databases on women as resource persons. Some media stations have also initiated specific telephone lines for women to increase their participation in the media.

As we look to the GMMP’s 30th anniversary in 2025, why do you believe that it is crucial for the GMMP to continue?

Looking to the GMMP’s 30th anniversary 2025, I believe that the work has just began.

Thirty years of hard work is not enough to impact on centuries of hard work to marginalize or discriminate women. Moreover, countries that have already embraced GMMP constitute a very marginal fraction of all the countries on the globe.

Doing GMMP for a day every five years has even been attacked by some sections of society, which say it is not representative enough. So, why not do it more frequently?

GMMP should continue as it provides evidence-based data for anybody who cares to address gaps.

Margaret B. Sentamu is executive director of Uganda Media Women’s Association (UMWA), operating in Uganda.

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