The goal of the project, organised by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), and supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), is to help women media professionals, who are under-represented in top management positions, to excel in their careers.

"We are very impressed by the direct impact this programme has had on the professional lives of the participants, with several of them taking on new positions or changing their career paths," said Programme Director Melanie Walker, who noted that the programme doubled in size in just its second year.

With a focus on coaching, mentoring, skills development and networking, the WIN programme places an emphasis on local ownership and knowledge-sharing. These activities build on the tradition of mentorship, which has begun to disappear from African society as modernity and economic growth take centre stage.

"WIN has made me grow. At the start of the 2010 programme I was so shy I couldn't even draw the courage to ask simple question, no matter how badly I wanted to," said Letty Gaolape, Human Resources Administration Officer of the Botswana Guardian. "But today I'm bold, I'm confident. And my employer is seeing the great impact of WIN through the projects I manage. I'm no longer an effective employee, I'm exceptional."

The South African meeting held this week included sessions and workshops on managing diversity in the newsroom, strategies to attract young readers, managing personal finances, project management skills and time management. 

Guest speakers included South African Press Ombudsman Joe Thloloe, who addressed the group about media ethics, and media chameleon Thami Ngubeni, former editor of O, (The Oprah Magazine, SA), columnist for Destiny magazine, and current radio host for South Africa's Metro FM.

For more information on the WIN programme and its events, please consult http://www.womeninnews.org.

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and WAN-IFRA conduct an ambitious strategic partnership to advance media development and press freedom worldwide. The partnership allows WAN-IFRA to broaden and develop its press freedom and media development activities to support free and financially sustainable media worldwide. A series of pilot projects to test new methods and approaches in strengthening media in emerging markets was launched in 2010.