The other challenge before MISA is to assist the media in the region serve the citizens better, as issues of gender in the media are about professional standards, ethics and about giving a fair voice. 3.1.1 GMBS report launches The MISA Gender Coordinator and the Gender Links Director launched the GMBS on March 4, 2003 as part of a panel on best practices in mainstreaming gender in the media at a side event to the annual meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York. The MISA and Gender Links team had a further opportunity to present the report at Committee Room B in the main UN building during a panel on Gende r and ICT organized by the International Women’s Tribune Centre and to showcase the report during a cocktail/book launch by the Commonwealth Secretariat at IWCT. One hundred (100) copies of the report were distributed to the delegations of countries from SADC, Unifem and the Division for the Advancement of Women. The GMBS was thereafter officially launched in South Africa by the Minister of Communication, Dr Ivy Matsepe -Casaburri on March 7, 2003.This launch was attended by 52 participants from media houses, MISA officials, SABC’s Gender Unit and Media Training Institutions. The launch received a lot of publicity and most of the comments were encouraging especially that the media asked themselves how fair they were when it came to the coverage of gender issues. The MISA Trust Fund Board Chairperson who took part in the launch in his closing remarks urged women to fight to be included and advised that the way forward was what was suggested in the report. MISA ensured that the launch of the report received maximum publicity through its own communication channels. The report and supporting press statements was subsequently made available online at www.misa.org 3.1.2 National launches of the GMBS reports The regional and national GMBS reports were launched on May 3, 2003 World Press Freedom Day in the various SADC countries. MISA Chapters, the Networks of Gender & Media and Gender Links, organized the country launches. The GMBS reports received wide coverage in the various media in the region. Due to the overwhelming interest MISA and Genderlinks have run out of country reports and hope to reprint them shortly. ‘Gender and the media’ have been put on the agenda but more intensified follow up work has to be done. 3.1.3 GMBS workshops Following the release and launch of the MISA and Gender Links GMBS in May 2003, several workshops were held in July, August and September, 2003. The MISA National Chapters with facilitation support from Gender Links, coordinated workshops in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These workshops brought together members from the media, media associations, non-governmental organizations and government, amongst others. The major outputs of these workshops were national plans of action to advocate for gender equality in and through the media. MISA Annual Report (April 2003 – March 2004) 13