The Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK) is a national media Association established in 1983 and registered under the Societies Act as a non-profit membership organization for women journalists and communicators. AMWIK membership comprises female employees of various media houses, public relations professionals, independent content producers, students of journalism and communication and employees of non-governmental organizations and other institutions who have a background study in communication.

AMWIK recognizes that gender inequality and inequity undermines development. Thus, AMWIK particularly focuses on enhancing the visibility of women in the society and promoting their participation in leadership and decision-making.

The media is a powerful tool for social change and agenda setting, which AMWIK uses to create public awareness around key issues affecting women to ensure public support and appreciation of women as leaders.  These tools include radio, television, community radio listening group sessions, newsletters, magazines and social media.

AMWIK further runs empowerment programmes for women and marginalized communities aimed at enabling them to effectively use media to promote their agenda and address their issues of concern, with a view to raising their visibility in the society.  The capacity building programmes are further aimed at promoting women’s participation in public policy and decision-making. The training is designed to help the groups understand how media operates, know how to package themselves to attract media coverage and further understand how to engage with various media platforms to communicate their agenda to the public.

Additionally AMWIK focuses on building the capacity of journalists to understand women’s issues, how the issues affect women and to positively package and widely disseminate information on women in a way that enables communities make informed choices and change negative attitudes towards women.

AMWIK is able to carry out its objectives through harnessing the skills and competencies of its 300 plus members and further maintaining favorable relations with both electronic and print media. AMWIK further embraces networking with other organizations to foster collaboration around issues of media strengthening, gender and governance, peace and human rights, gender based violence, HIVD/AIDS and sexual reproductive health among others.

Mission 

AMWIK seeks to use the media to promote an informed and gender responsive society in Kenya and Africa.

Vision 

A just society in which the media embraces and promotes equitable development, human rights and women’s rights.

Objectives

• - To promote the right of use of information to create a society that has equitable access to opportunities.
• - To create an informed and resourceful society through professional development and transformation of the media to enhance the status of women in Kenya.
• - To ensure balanced media coverage of women’s issues by training journalists on gender sensitive reporting
• - To train women to effectively tap the potential of the media in highlighting their specific concerns
• - To foster the understanding of issues affecting women through the media
• - To organize and unite media women in fellowship and link them with similar organizations elsewhere

Corporate Values 

The values that underpin the operations of AMWIK are:

• - Professional ethics
• - Honesty and Integrity
• - Transparency and Accountability
• - Respect for Human rights.