Steering Committee
Vincent Kahiya is Zimbabwean-based vastly experienced Communications Practitioner with over twenty-five years of practice covering Reporting, Editing, Public Relations and Public Information Management. He is an International Trainer in Journalism, Change Management, Media Strategy, Social Media Policy & Governance, and Digital Media Project Development. He holds qualifications in Journalism and Communications, Public Relations, Public Information Management and Business Leadership.
Vincent was Editor of the Zimbabwe Independent (theindependent.co.zw) for six years (2004-2010) before becoming Founding Editor of NewsDay (newsday.co.zw) in 2010. Between 2015 and 2017, he led publishing company Alpha Media Holdings as Managing Director before joining Oxgn PR as Managing Consultant and currently he is the COO of Corporate Communications firm VPCG (vpcg.co.zw). In this role, he advises on Corporate Communications Strategy and Reputation Management to local and international organisations.
Vincent T Kahiya is a Steering Committee Member under WAN-IFRA Women-In-News programme and Lead Trainer in WIN-Advisory.
Emelda is a Zambian Journalist working as Editorials Editor with Zambia’s lead newspaper – the Zambia Daily Mail. She holds a Bachelor of Mass Communication degree from the University of Zambia and a Postgraduate Diploma in Media Management from Rhodes University. She is currently studying for a Law degree at the University of Zambia.
Emelda started her journalism career as a reporter and newscaster for Radio Christian Voice before joining the Zambia Daily Mail in 2006 as a Sub-Editor. In Her 14-year engagement with the Zambia Daily Mail she has risen through the ranks and held various portfolios including Assistant Gender Editor, Deputy Sunday Mail Editor and Sunday Mail Editor. Her current portfolio as Editorials Editor involves generating and managing content for the Opinion and Analyses section of the Zambia Daily Mail Newspaper.
Emelda Libanga is Women in News Steering Committee Member and Country Lead for Zambia. She is a successful graduate and part of the first cohort of the WAN-IFRA Women in News Programme (2010-2014), which focused at addressing gender parity at management level in the African media industry.
Emelda is part of the Graca Machel Trust – Women in Media Network of 34 highly experienced journalists from 15 African countries aimed at amplifying voices of women and children. She is also part of the International Training Programme (ITP) on Media Regulation in a democratic framework 2019 Cohort (a 14-month training programme aimed at building capacity to enhance media development and self-regulation). She is a member of the Free Press Initiative in Zambia – a non-profit organization which advocates for a free press (FPI) and Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA).
Solange Ayanone started her career as a Journalist in 1992 at Radio Rwanda and has twenty-eight years vast experience in journalism. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Project Management at University of Kigali.
Solange is the Owner of AFRI-MEDIA Ltd, a company that deals with media, communication, and event management and one of its activities is a web news: www.jobcenter.rw, focusing on entrepreneurship, jobs and economics to address unemployment among youth and women in Rwanda.
In 1994, Solange was assigned to represent the national radio in the Northern province as Head of Department. She successfully directed the regional office of the national radio until 1995. In 1996, she was tasked to lead the sub-department of production of the national radio where she oversaw a team of around twenty producers of the program of the radio.
In 2002 she was recruited by International Rescue Committee as Technical advisor in charge of monitoring of community projects funded by USAID. In 2005, she became the Program Director of Radio Izuba, a community radio based in Eastern province. In 2007, she worked with Partners in Health, as Education and Information Coordinator. In 2010, she started to work with a media French agency, Syfia International, as a Correspondent of the agency in Rwanda. At the same time, she worked as a Program Manager of TSANGO STAR, a commercial radio based in Kigali. In 2012, she became a Trainer at Syfia international. At that time, she was hired by DW as a Correspondent in the French Department for both radio and the DW website. By 2012, she was recruited by PAX PRESS, a network of journalists based in Rwanda as an Editor and a Project Coordinator. She published various articles and radio reports for both national and international media houses.
Solange Ayanone is a Steering Committee Member and Country Lead for Women in News, Rwanda, having served as Coach since 2016 to-date.
Pamella Sittoni lead the Nation Media Group’s coverage of international, African and regional affairs by staff in Nairobi and three bureaus in the region, as well as Correspondents across Africa. She has held the position for five years.
Sittoni began her career at the Nation Media Group in Kenya as a reporter in 1993,and later worked as a sub- editor, deputy chief sub-editor and chief sub-editor. In 2003 she moved to the Standard Group, as Deputy Managing Editor. In 2005, she was appointed Managing Editor of its flagship daily, The Standard, becoming the first woman Managing Editor of a daily newspaper in Kenya.
From 2006 to 2012, she worked as a Communication Specialist with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Kenya, where she, among other tasks, led the agency’s engagement with Members of Parliament and was charged with mobilising the media to keep children’s and women’s issues on the national and global agenda.
Sittoni holds a degree in literature and anthropology and a post-graduate diploma in communication from the University of Nairobi, and a Master’s degree in New Media, Democracy and Governance, from the University of Leicester. She is a Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network through the Africa Leadership Initiative (East Africa).
Ehab El Zelaky is a veteran Egyptian journalist, currently working as the Executive Editor-in-Chief at Al Masry Al Youm newspaper, which is considered one of the most successful daily Egyptian newspapers, both in print, and online. Ehab has worked in several media organizations including Al Arabi, Al Dostor, Rosa Al Yousef, over the past 20 years. In 2001, Ehab established “Online”; one the most pioneering technology magazines in Egypt. He writes about technology development in relation to the media industry, and trains on CAR, Data Journalism, New trends in Media and Social Media.
Jumana Ghunaimat is a leading Jordanian media figure with an extensive career in media policies, journalism, and activism. As a Minister of State for Media Affairs (June 2018 – November 2019), Ghunaimat led government communications, advancing progressive media policies, formulating the government’s socio-economic narrative, and closely managing cross- government media campaigns and operations. As a minister, Ghunaimat advanced several media and communications initiatives, including reforming the appointment process for the senior leadership positions at the Media Commission (media regulatory body), JRTV (national TV and radio broadcaster), and Petra News Agency – rolling out a competitive merit-based appointment process. Fact-checking was a key communications priority for Ghunaimat. Accordingly, she envisioned and supervised the development, launch and activation of the government’s first fact-checking platform as a strategic and tactical response to a media environment characterized by aggressive fake-news dissemination. This effort was part and parcel of a wider approach Ghunaimat strongly supported to deliver a nation-wide and cross-generational Media and Information Literacy framework, which aimed to equip citizens with the necessary tools to discern credible information and quality journalism.
In addition to her core responsibilities in the media and communications fields, Ghunaimat continued her passion for women activism during her ministerial post, chairing the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) for Women’s Empowerment – which leads the Jordanian National Action Plan (JONAP) for the Implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.
Ghunaimat had an extensive media career working in several leading local publications. Between 2012 and 2018, she led the independent daily newspaper Al Ghad as editor-in-chief with a focus on enhancing the digital presence of the newspaper. These efforts positioned Al Ghad among the top online news sources. While leading the newspaper, Ghunaimat continued writing a semi-daily column focusing on socio- economic issues, such as poverty, budget, energy, and countering corruption.
Dalal Saoud is a veteran journalist based in Beirut who worked for United Press International (UPI) for 21 years as Lebanon correspondent, Beirut Bureau Chief, Middle East Bureau Chief and Editor-in-Chief of the Arabic desk. She travelled extensively in the Arab region to secure in-depth reporting, conduct special interviews and cover major summits. In 2003, she was entrusted with improving and developing the UPI Arabic News Service and expanding its news coverage, leading a 30-member team, including editors, translators and correspondents in Beirut and the region.
In 2012, she moved to the American University of Beirut as media director and from 2013 to 2015 she focused on developing media projects and providing training for a number of news outlets. In June 2015, she helped set up and launch The Arab Weekly, a London-based English-language weekly newspaper, where she served as Deputy Editor-in-Chief from March 2015 to April 2017.
She is currently dedicating time to media consultancy and journalism training, while focusing on in-depth political analysis about Lebanon and the region.
She has a BA in Political Science and Public Administration from the American University of Beirut (AUB). She is fluent in Arabic, English and French.
Vincent Peyrègne took up duties as Chief Executive Officer of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) on 1st October 2012. Prior to joining WAN-IFRA, since the end of 2008 he worked in the office of the French minister of Culture and Communication where he was responsible for newspapers and new media as well as the Dzétats généraux de la presse écritedz, the French government’s response to the economic difficulties facing the newspaper industry. From 2004 to 2008 he was head of development at Edipresse Publications SA in Lausanne, with responsibility for reader studies and marketing research. In 1997, as Regional Manager of IFRA (INCA FIEJ Research Association), he established IFRA South West Europe, the IFRA subsidiary with responsibility for the French-speaking regions and the Iberian Peninsula, which he headed for seven years. He then established IFRA Ibérica in 2000, coinciding with the launch of the Spanish-language edition of IFRA’s international magazine, técnicas de prensa. Before joining IFRA for the first time, he worked for three years for the business daily publication La Tribune Desfossés in Paris, initially as head of advertising, then customerrelationship manager. A graduate of the European Institute of Business Administration (IEA) in Paris, he began his professional career working as a consultant for several French newspaper companies, such as Libération and Groupe Sud-Ouest as well as for professional organisations such as Syndicat de la Presse Quotidienne Régionale, Syndicat de la Presse Parisienne, Syndicat des Quotidiens Départementaux and Nouvelles Messageries de la Presse Parisienne. Vincent Peyrègne is a founding board member of the French-language chapter of SND (Society forNews Design) and since several years a member of ESOMAR and INMA, and a former member of the REMP-WEMF Research Committee (advertising media research) in Zurich.
