By Alinah O. Kallon, MMW senior journalist “As a woman and an activist, I feel fulfilled that all our efforts have not gone in vain. We now have a law to protect women in this country,” declared Emelia Kamara Jengo of Makeni in northern Sierra Leone. She was expressing satisfaction about the landmark Gender Equality… Continue reading Sierra Leone Passes ‘Ground Breaking’ Gender Equality Law
For media requests, please contact info@mediamattersforwomen.org. NEWS RELEASE – Freetown, Sierra Leone, Feb. 17, 2023 – Human trafficking of women and children has reached crisis levels in Sierra Leone, and MMW reporter Zainab Sheriff is determined to use her power as a journalist to join efforts to control it, particularly the trafficking of children for forced… Continue reading MMW Journalist Awarded Fellowship to Tackle Human Trafficking Crisis in Sierra Leone
For media requests, please contact info@mediamattersforwomen.org. NEWS RELEASE – Freetown, Sierra Leone, Feb. 16, 2023 – With the political tensions surrounding the upcoming elections in June 2023, Ndeamoh Mansaray’s participation in an international conference for networking and training for journalists and democracy activists was timely and valuable for her work. The conference, “Building a Democracy Network… Continue reading MMW Journalist Collaborates with Regional Journalists and Democracy Activists to Address Election Coverage Challenges
A Message from Executive Director Florence Sesay We continue to campaign against sexual and gender-based violence by Florence Sesay I am pleased to welcome you to our new quarterly Media Matters for Women-Sierra Leonne (MMW) newsletter with updates and stories about our work. Foremost in mind for myself and MMW has been the 16 Days of… Continue reading MMW Newsletter January 2023
Staff and field workers across MMWSL’s three regions of operation have received their Christmas bonuses as the festive celebrations commences. The Christmas bonus initiative is a yearly event that has been going on since the organization’s establishment. Over eighty staff which includes field workers received the bonus in the form of cash in appreciation of… Continue reading MMW-SL STAFF RECEIVES CHRISTMAS BONUS
by MMW Senior Journalist Alinah Kallon Media Matters for Women in collaboration with Rainbo Initiative, Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs launches 16 Days of Activism Campaign in Makeni, Bombali District. The 16 Days of Activism against all forms of violence against women and girls is an annual event from 25th November to 10 December.… Continue reading MMW Celebrates Inter-generational Dialogue During 16 Days of Activism
by MMW Senior Journalist Ndeamoh Mansaray Media Matters for Women’s second Period Power Project commenced at the end of October. Ten schools participated as part of a three-district partnership. The project supplied equipment and materials included two rolls of materials, scissors, boxes of threads, needles, buttons etc and detailed handouts on menstruation and sanitary hygiene… Continue reading WESTERN RURAL DISTRICT’S SUCCESSFUL PERIOD POWER PROJECT
By Alinah Kallon In 2020-21 Media Matters for Women launched our Period Power Project, first in the pilot phase. The initial project yielded a huge success. We taught our listeners (Adolescent Girls) to create and sew their own menstrual pads as they listened and conversed about the information provided by district midwives concerning all aspects… Continue reading Media Matters for Women Concludes its Period Power Project with a Grand Finale
For media requests, please contact info@mediamattersforwomen.org NEWS RELEASE – Freetown, Sierra Leone, Nov. 14, 2022 Florence Sesay, the executive director of the non-profit Media Matters for Women based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, has been selected as a visionary leader by the Estée Lauder Emerging Leaders Fund and Vital Voices Global Partnership. Sesay joins a group of… Continue reading Florence Sesay Named to Estée Lauder Leadership Program
Our recent AmplifyChange grant allowed us to explore what would happen if we expanded beyond Listening Centres to include training young women to become Youth Advocates. That resulted in a massive increase in listeners–over 28,000 during the grant period. We are now very fortunate to be operating under a grant from the Oak Foundation (which… Continue reading MMW’s Moment of “Lift”
Florence Njai-Sesay, our Project Director in Sierra Leone, received the prestigious “2020 Women Forward Award: Mentor of Distinction” from Bpeace (The Business Council for Peace International – www.bpeace.org). The globally attended on-line award ceremony was followed by a surprise celebration event held for Florence in Freetown by the MMW-SL Board Chair Mariama Khai Fournah and many from the MMW-SL… Continue reading MMW-SL Project Director Florence Sesay Selected for 2020 B-PEACE Award
MMW-SL Board 2019, (left to right) Fatmata Dainkeh-Katta (Chair), Millicent Massaquoi, Mariama Khai Fournah, Zainab Kamara, Florence Sesay, Mariama Sesay
COVID-19 has unleashed many”shadow” effects and one is a surge in domestic violence. Madre, a women’s rights organization, has invited Media Matters for Women to join its Consortium on Domestic Violence Prevention During COVID-19 MADRE. In addition to Madre and Media Matters for Women, the other organizations include WILPF, Nobel Women’s Initiative, OutRight Action International, Women… Continue reading MMW Invited to Lead on Global Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative
CATCHAFIRE is an organization that matches professionals who want to donate their time and talent with nonprofits who need those skills. It is a for-purpose social enterprise, Public-Benefit Corporation1, and certified B-Corp – a new type of business model that demonstrates that a focus on a social mission and a goal to build a successful… Continue reading CATCHAFIRE Offers Volunteer Expertise on Key Issues
Our team in Sierra Leone has been selected to be an Internews local media partner and for emergency funding through its Rapid Response Fund, launched to support community media during the COVID-19 crisis. We were chosen out of hundreds of media outlets applying from more than 80 countries. The emergency funds have already been put… Continue reading INTERNEWS Provides a Covid-19 Rapid Response Grant
The team leading the Issues Affecting Women Programme at the Oak Foundation have made an emergency Covid-19 grant to MMW with a focus on domestic violence, the “epidemic within the epidemic.” With this funding our MMW-SL team is mobilizing quickly to be able to reach the most vulnerable populations during this crisis. MMW is uniquely… Continue reading OAK FOUNDATION Chooses MMW in Sierra Leone for Emergency Covid-19 Grant
Listeners at Yeali Sanda, a small community outside of Makeni, gather with Zainab Mummy Tholley, one of our Youth Advocates, at a MMW-SL Listening Centre. Zainab took the lead in playing and discussing our latest podcast on sexual and reproductive health as well as an episode of our popular drama series “Mamie & Omo” on human trafficking.… Continue reading Youth Advocates At Work in Yeali Sanda
“Mamie & Omo,” is back! The original series that aired on Cotton Tree News in post-conflict Sierra Leone has been revived by Media Matters for Women – Sierra Leone and is now playing to huge audiences nationwide. The two key fictional characters of the show were played by CTN journalists who are now part of our MMW-SL… Continue reading MMW-SL Revival of “Mamie & Omo” Draws Large Audiences
The MMW International Advisory Board recently agreed to begin partnering with privately held companies operating in the least developed countries, helping companies in the private sector to achieve their social and economic goals in the countries where they work, especially meeting IFC Standard 7 on indigenous peoples and SDG 5 on gender equality, particularly SDG 5(B) to… Continue reading MMW Initiative with Financial Development Institutions
by Nate Sebree Senior at University of Washington Seattle, Washington The work done by NGOs in developing countries has always fascinated and inspired me, and I have a keen interest in working in this field when I graduate. This summer I had the privilege of working alongside some of Sierra Leone’s hard-working and dedicated female… Continue reading Second MMW Summer Volunteer in Sierra Leone
MMW-SL has strengthened our fifteen Listening Centers by hiring and training 30 Youth Advocates, young women and men beween the ages of 18 to 24 who are now active participants in extending our programming to “last mile” women and girls. Traveling by foot or by motorbike, they increased engagement among our target populations on SRHR advocacy… Continue reading 30 New Youth Advocates Significantly Extend Our Broadcast Reach in Sierra Leone
We are thrilled to announce that Amplify Change has awarded Media Matters for Women – Sierra Leone their € 89,000 Strengthening grant! Our project will begin March 11, 2019. Florence Njai-Sesay will serve as our Project Coordinator and Abibatu Kamara as our Finance Officer. Our Senior Journalists are Alinah Kallon, Ndeamoh Mansaray, and Zainab Sheriff. The new project… Continue reading New “Amplify Change” Grant Funding for 2019-20
Media Matters for Women applied for and was selected for the second round of competition of the TED Audacious Prize 2019! This is a relatively new global initiative for launching big, audacious ideas like ours. Our first submission was a superb team effort, including a video created by our team in Sierra Leone. We were… Continue reading TED Audacious Prize 2019 – MMW Advances to the Second Round
