UNRC Remarks – Gouna Film Festival Press Conference 18 September 2023

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

I am pleased to be with you today, among dear colleagues, partners, and friends to inform you about the contribution of United Nations in Egypt to the Gouna Film Festival this year.  

As the UN in Egypt, we value our partnership with Egypt’s creative industry, and I am glad to see many leaders from this sector with us today.

Our ambition as the United Nations is to support Egypt on its path to sustainable development, bringing to life the Sustainable Development Goals in Egypt, for all people in Egypt.

In this effort, the creative industry is an important partner for us.

Films are vehicles to stimulate thinking, question society and advocate for positive change. Films can give a voice to those we do not hear and a face to those we do not see often. Such as migrants and refugees, persons with disabilities, marginalized women and girls, and many others.

Our UN partnership with the Gouna Film Festival stretches back to the first edition of the festival in 2017. UNHCR, UNICEF and UNFPA were the trailblazers on our side contributing to earlier editions.

Building on this legacy, this year we will continue to support the Festival. We will be in the Festival Hub with panel discussions, workshops and of course screenings. We want to put on the agenda issues such as diversity in film, raising awareness of heritage and tribal communities, and the protection of women and girls in the filmmaking industry.

As the UN, we also want to empower. In this year’s edition of the Festival, the UN in Egypt will come with a new, special initiative. IOM, UNDP [TBC], UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UN Women, WFP and WHO will be supporting the participation of over 100 young students, that are emerging filmmakers. This will give them a unique opportunity to participate and showcase their work.

We are extremely pleased to bring more of the UN system in support of our shared vision with the Gouna Film Festival.

And we look forward to expanding our UN partnership with the festival even further in the future.

I wish all of you every success with the festival this year and look forward to seeing you there.

Thank you.