Press Release - Amie Joof-Cole Named AWMC Director
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Amie Joof-Cole Named AWMC Director
Washington, DC – Amie Joof-Cole, a journalist and activist on behalf of African women and girls, has been named director of the International Women’s Media Foundation’s African Women’s Media Center (AWMC), located in Dakar, Senegal. Joof-Cole, a citizen of The Gambia, comes to the AWMC with more than 25 years of experience as a journalist. Since 1999, she has been secretary general of the West African Women’s Association/Association des Femmes de L’Afrique de l’Ouest (WAWA/AFAO).
“Amie Joof-Cole is a woman of commitment and energy, and we are extremely proud to have her as the AWMC’s new director,” said IWMF Co-Chair Carole Simpson, an ABC-TV news anchor in the United States. “Her vision is exactly what we need to move the center forward.”
“Amie Joof-Cole knows intimately all the challenges that African women in the media face. She is a creative, strong leader, and just the right person for the AWMC network,” said IWMF Executive Director Sherry Rockey.
Joof-Cole has been involved with the AWMC since its launch in 1997 in Dakar. She has worked extensively in the media and with media associations in Africa. In 1998, she was acting manager at Gambia Radio and TV Services, responsible for the day-to-day management of the national radio station. From 1989 to 1994, she produced radio dramas on family health for Radio Gambia, in partnership with Johns Hopkins University and the Gambia Family Planning Association. She is also a former head of the Rural Broadcasting and Adult Education Section of Radio Gambia.
In 2001, Joof-Cole founded FutureWatch, a bi-lingual magazine published in English and French for young people in The Gambia and Senegal. She has been a frequent consultant on gender sensitivity in the media and, from 1993 to 1999, was president of GAMCOTRAP, a non-governmental organization dealing with harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation. She is the first woman to become president of The Gambia Family Planning Association, and served as chairperson of the National Women’s Council of The Gambia from 1993 to 1999.
Founded in 1997 by the International Women’s Media Foundation, the AWMC provides African women journalists with the training, resources and tools they need to compete with their male colleagues. The AWMC offers a wide range of programs for journalists throughout the continent.
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