Joyce Bazira

Promoting Women’s Political Participation in Africa through Community Radio

Dr. Joyce Bazira is a Tanzanian independent media trainer and founder of Chimbua Communications, a media organization that seeks to transform news narratives by giving voice to vulnerable groups, including women. She is a trainer for the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)’s Women in News Program, through which she has mentored over 100 female journalists in Tanzania. A scholar of mass communications, Dr. Bazira has authored several publications on the state of the media in Tanzania and has taught at various universities in Tanzania, at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Previously, she was a journalist for over ten years with Alasiri and the Guardian Limited. In 2021, she received a Woman of Achievement Award from the Tanzania Media Women’s Association, in recognition of her training and mentoring efforts to help close the gender gap in newsrooms. During her fellowship, Dr. Bazira is exploring ways to help community radio journalists develop strategic messaging to advance women’s participation in the political process in Tanzania.