Kathmandu, September 26:

A four-day training of trainers (TOT) on ‘Media and Issues of Women Rights’ kicked off today. Inaugurating the training programme organised under the aegis of Jagaran Nepal, an organisation working for women’s rights, peace and governance, Mahendra Bista, general secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists ((FNJ), said this is the right time to raise issues related to the women and their rights.

He said, “Constituent Assembly elections will create a platform for women to raise voices for their rights.”

Stating that there are doubts on whether the elections will be held on schedule, he said, “If held on schedule, the elections will give us the opportunity to establish the ownership of all citizens at their levels.” “The CA is the ray of hope for the women and other citizens.”

He called on the media to do their best to make the public aware of the CA.

Sharmila Karki, president of the Jagaran Nepal, said the patriarchal system should be abolished to pave the way for gender equality. She said, “The main objective of the training programme is to facilitate journalists on conceptual clarity of women, human rights issues and to identify the core issues and problems of media and women’s rights.”

She added that the training will help develop trainers and resource persons on women’s rights issues at the media sector.

“On the concluding day, we will lobby for women’s rights issues with media persons,” she said. Shanta Laxmi Shrestha, a gender expert, said, “The media should communicate a message of equality of human beings, which they have not been able to do.”