CAIRO - 25 October 2020: Egypt's El Gouna Film Festival organised a panel about refugee children and child rights, hosted by UNHCR and the Sawiris Foundation.
Moderated by Raya Abirached, the panel welcomed the likes of UNHCR representative to Egypt and the League of Arab States, Karim Atassi; Assistant Secretary-General of the league of Arab States, Haifa Abu Ghazaleh; Sawiris Foundation's Noura Selim; and actress, Kinda Alloush, as well as filmmaker, Nadine Labaki.
In this panel development actors, humanitarian organisations, policymakers and filmmakers all came together and discussed how influential figureheads and cinema can be active catalysts in the betterment of marginalised children’s rights in Egypt and the Arab World.
Coveted platforms such as UNHCR and Sawiris Foundation for Social Development lead the panel with heavy-weight icons on what’s the road forward to ensuring children have access to healthcare, education, shelter, clean water and food among other basic needs.
During the discussion, Dr. Abu Ghazaleh said that the League of Arab States is working hard to draw a comprehensive plan to assist refugee children, along with working on a children’s parliament to train them on the diplomatic lifestyle.
“The Arab Region contains the largest number of refugees, especially Egypt, which hosts more than 85,000 refugee children, 4,000 of which have arrived without their parents, rendering them the most difficult cases, for they have lost everything—the country and the family,” explained professor Atassi.
Engineer Noura Selim stated that, “80% of married women face violence from their spouses,” adding that violence against women is as important as violence against children, since it inevitably leads to familial dysfunction. She also added that the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development collaborates with several NGOs with aims to support children through the aid of specialized experts, calling for the child›s right to play and feel safe.
Famed actress Kinda Alloush highlighted the importance of using social media to raise awareness about the cause of refugee children, urging the UN to raise further awareness on the idea of volunteer work, especially amongst younger generations. the importance of cinema as a tool to shed light on the issue of violence against women and children.
The panel also featured a virtual side-chat by award-winning Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki who highlighted the importance of cinema as a tool to shed light on the issue of violence against women and children.
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