At the 56th ABU General Assembly and Associated Meetings, the 8th Women With the Wave: Broadcasting for All, Diversity and Inclusion in the Media  Forum was held on 19 November 2019.

Delegates heard from over 30 moderators and speakers from 16 countries.

The keynote speaker at the Opening Ceremony was Ms Kathy Matsui from Goldman Sachs Japan, who provided a snapshot of gender and diversity data in Japan, comparative with world statistics.

Global and regional representatives from the OECD, UNESCO, UNI MEI, EBU and the ABU provided insights to the raft of gender and diversity activities taking place to enhance gender equality and diversity & inclusion in the media and society.

The ABU’s Gender and Diversity Champions for Media Strategy session heard from three Champions who updated the Forum on their leadership activities.

The remainder of the day’s sessions focused on four key areas of diversity – Diversity in action: Focus on Strategies and Content in the Media. Key areas of Gender, Disability, Cultural & Religious Diversity and Generational Diversity which featured leaders and practitioners from ABU broadcasting organisations, agencies and consultancies.

Participants heard about policies and initiatives in the workplace and viewed examples of content and accessible services that covered all the areas of diversity, reflecting the people and issues across the Asia-Pacific area.