By Meluse Kapatamoyo
A recent study by South Africa’s Gender Links (GL) has revealed that Zambian media houses are lacking in their commitment to providing maternity and paternity leave to workers.
GL is a Southern African Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) committed to ensuring that women and men in the region are able to participate equally in all aspects of public and private life.
According to the report titled “Glass Ceilings: Women and Men in Southern African Media”, although 78 percent of media houses in Zambia offer maternity leave, the number is still below the regional average of 81 percent.
And out of the regional average of 33 percent, only 22 percent organisations offered paternity leave.
Zambian media houses also faired poorly in the provision of child care facilities. None of the media houses in the sample offered child care services, compared to 15 percent in the regional sample. But 78 percent of media houses in Zambia (and 75 percent in the region) offer flexi-time.
The study was based on research carried out in nine media houses, with a total of 416 employees.