AMMAN (Petra) - HRH Princess Basma, chairperson of the Arab Women Media Centre (AWMC), on Sunday honoured 11 women working for various local media establishments, in appreciation of their role and achievements in the sector .

During a ceremony organised by the AWMC, in cooperation with the Higher Media Council (HMC), and UNIFEM, to mark Arab Media Women Day, Princess Basma highlighted important role of media personnel .

In her address at the event, the Princess stressed that Jordanian women still have much to offer to accomplish more achievements and reach the aspired goals .

Commending HMC training programmes, she underlined the importance of the message of Jordanian media workers and its contribution to Arab media .

Referring to the role of women parliamentarians and journalists, she said they are important “since they represent one of the major factors of change in society”, and encouraged more women to participate in the two fields .

In his remarks at the ceremony, Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Nasser Judeh highlighted His Majesty King Abdullah′s direct support for Jordanian women, Her Majesty Queen Rania′s follow-up on women′s activities and Princess Basma′s efforts in this area .

Other speakers at the event included HMC President Sima Bahous, UNIFEM Director Mona Ghanem and AWMC President Mahasen Emam, who underlined the importance of empowering women to enhance their contribution to the development process .

The ceremony included a seminar on the “Role of the Media in Enhancing Female Parliamentarians′ Performance ”.

The AWMC, which was established in 1999 upon the directives of Princess Basma to empower Arab women journalists, has been a reference point for various women journalists .

The centre has provided specialised media tools and studies to empower Jordanian women and raise their awareness about women′s rights issues and sustainable development by providing training, workshops, specialised conferences and documentaries .