Media Matters for Women’s Senior Reporter Alinah Kallon, left, and Executive Director Florence Sesay stand in front of the world flags display at the United Nations headquarters in March. They were in New York City to lead an event in connection with the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, which was holding its annual… Continue reading MMW Spring 2023 News
By MMW Team Media Matters for Women (MMW) is helping to build a women-owned fish farming project in Kamakwie, a remote and impoverished area in the Karene District in northwest Sierra Leone. The goal is to empower women to pursue their own business opportunities. Since 2010, MMW has produced and distributed podcasts designed to inform… Continue reading Fish Farm Project Takes off, Thanks to MMW’s Assistance
By Alinah Kallon, Senior MMW Journalist In May 2022, Jane Kamara (not her real name), an 8-year-old child, and her friends accepted a ride home from school with a driver for one of the banks in Makeni. The man, Unisa Kabba, known as J-one, was Jane’s neighbor. J-one tricked Jane into going to his house… Continue reading MMW with Consortium of Communities of Practice Demand Justice for Rape of Young Girl
By Madeline MacKenzie Media Matters for Women hosted an event in connection with the United Nations’ 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York City on March 10. Part of our team from Sierra Leone shared their knowledge from a collective 30+ years of experience championing the rights of women… Continue reading MMW Presents its Work During UN Events in New York City in March
Telluride Daily Planet March 14, 2023 On the backside of their recent trip to New York City to host a panel discussion connected with the 67th session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, Florence Sesay and Alinah Kallon visited MMW’s U.S. headquarters in Denver before traveling to Telluride in southwestern Colorado, where… Continue reading Journalists Travel from Sierra Leone to Telluride Raising Awareness
Arvada Press March 13, 2023 MMW Executive Director Florence Sesay and Senior Journalist Alinah Kallon spoke with the Arvada Press about their work advocating for women and girls in Sierra Leone. As MMW approaches its 10-year anniversary, Sesay and Kallon shared personal stories from their experience fighting for women’s rights in last-mile communities. They also… Continue reading In Sierra Leone, Local Journalism is a Lifeboat for Women in Rural Communities
By Zainab Sheriff, Senior Journalist We are greatly saddened about the passing of Hannah Grace Lahai, a tireless advocate for women’s health and wellbeing, and a beloved and highly respected focal point for MMW in the Kenema district. In addition to being a longtime nurse, Lahai worked for MMW for six years, taking our podcasts… Continue reading MMW Mourns Loss of Hannah Grace Lahai
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
