Action! UNESCO supports women and cinema in Africa at FESPACO
UNESCO will put the spotlight on women and policies to support the film sector in Africa during the 26th edition of the Panafrican film and television festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), to be held from 23rd February to 2nd March 2019 in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).
A high level round table entitled "50 years of FESPACO: 50-50 for women" will be held on February 26th at the Ouagadougou City Hall with the participation of Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, and Ms Sika Kaboré, First Lady of Burkina Faso. The roundtable will bring together women directors, film distributors, as well as ministers of culture from West Africa to discuss challenges faced by women in accessing funding and training opportunities in the film and broadcasting industries in Africa. It will also examine the issue of gender equality in national cultural policies and the representation of women in decision-making positions.
UNESCO will also launch its 2018 Global Report "Re I Shaping Cultural policies" on Thursday the 28th of February 2019 at the Place de la Nation Chapiteau in Ouagadougou. This public debate will examine new trends in policy making to support cultural and creative industry sectors, in line with the objectives of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
The launch of the report will be followed by a "Create | 2030 " talk on UNESCO's international assistance and cooperation programmes supporting the film and audiovisual sector in Africa. Beneficiaries of UNESCO’s International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD) from Senegal, Malawi, Madagascar and Cameroon will discuss achievements and challenge.
In the afternoon (2:30pm), an information session will be held for civil society organizations and representatives of public institutions at Ouagadougou City Hall and will raise awareness of UNESCO’s programmes to support creative sectors.
The 2019 FESPACO festival coincides with the launch of the 10th call for applications of the International Fund for Cultural Diversity, which is a multi-donor fund established by the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity cultural expressions (2005). Since its implementation in 2010, the fund has invested more than USD $ 7 million in 105 projects based in more than 50 developing countries.
UNESCO's presence at FESPACO is supported within the framework of the project "Reshaping Cultural Policies for the promotion of fundamental freedoms and the diversity of cultural expressions" funded by the Government of Sweden.
