ISLAMABAD: Women journalists expressed their concerns, they have to face at work places and in the field, at the three-day media training workshop organised here by the International Labour Organisation.

More than 20 journalists from all key TV channels, newspapers and radio stations from Islamabad, Rawalpindi and some adjacent districts are participating in the media workshop started from Thursday and would conclude on Saturday.

It is the first workshop among the series of 40 workshops being arranged by International Labour Organization in different parts of the country in, which more than 800 journalists would be trained on women related issues.

Pakistani independent media and policy development and advocacy organization Civic Action Resources are conducting the media trainings.

The national partnership is part of the media component of a five-year ILO project funded by Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) titled “Gender Equality for Decent Employment (GE4DE)” that has been launched to ensure that Pakistani women have greater access to equal employment opportunities and decent working conditions in selected economic sectors; and stakeholders have increased understanding of and favorable attitudes towards working women's issues.

These workshops are structured on three prime objectives including strengthening national mechanisms to promote equal employment opportunities for women.The second objective is to enhance skills and employability of poor women in rural and urban areas of selected districts and under it at least 6,300 poor women will be trained while the third purpose of these workshops is strengthening capacity of media to raise awareness on issues related to working women.

The training workshops are an outcome of a landmark media partnership established by the top media leadership of Pakistan, including owners, news managers and practitioners, who endorsed, signed and supported the “National Media Partnership on Supporting Women's Empowerment”.