Reham posing for a Swedish journalist after playing the Doll’s House in the Big Hall of the Al-Aqsa University in Gaza
IFCD Projects Change Lives Across the Globe
07 Feb 2022
Since 2010, the impactful projects of the International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD) empower artists and transform the destinies of people working in the creative and cultural industries all over the world.
Reham Fathi Ibrahim Hamad had a dream: to become the leading theatre actress in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. So when UNESCO funded a project empowering Palestinian youth through theatre through the IFCD, she did not hesitate. She passionately declares:
This was a golden opportunity to learn everything about theatre as well as develop my talent for theatre acting.
And so she seized this once-in-a-lifetime chance, and her professional success resonated with such vibrancy that even the Palestinian Minister for Culture congratulated her personally, as she proudly acknowledges.Yet, the path to success does not come without difficulties.
Reham knows it very well. “I was able to achieve the beginning of my dream by standing firmly on theater stage and being well aware of every word I say or perform.”, she declares. The relentless tenacity and hard work of artists must not, however, serve as a self-defeating alibi to disregard the mounting challenges most of them face.
Julio Lamaña, cultural manager and documentary maker working from Colombia, speaks out on the despair and fear shared by many art professionals, seeing it very important “in a career as fragile as cinema production to keep the enthusiasm and the will to shoot ever alive”.
Indeed, the world is awash with stories of frustrated artists who endure obstacles cumbersome enough to prevent them from unlocking their potential. This is when UNESCO’s IFCD comes in.Between 2010 and 2021, the IFCD has financially supported 120 projects in 60 countries with 8.7 million USD in funding. Its successful projects have contributed to the mobility of more than 400 arts and culture professionals while providing training to 12.072 of them. Under the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, IFCD has structured its transformative impact across 4 core themes:
- Governance and public policy for creativity
- Professional training and entrepreneurship
- Market access
- Participation and inclusion
In this way, the IFCD is also working to meet the Sustainable Development Goals set for 2030, in particular through its economic and social impact.
The spark of change ignited by the IFCD has spread like a fire all over the world. In Madagascar, 27-year old Herizo Randriamora joined 2,000 other young film professionals in a comprehensive training program to revive Malagasy cinema that propelled him, a junior camera man, to start exploring postproduction and visual effects as well. Her fellowAlexandra Livarisaina, a Malagasy producer, gives a voice to the burning ambition of these promising young talents, explaining:
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Alexandra Livarisaina /Source: Alexandra Lyss FacebookThe IFCD-sponsored project inspired me to pursue my current career path. I still have a lot to learn and hope to grow professionally in the future.
On the other corner of the globe, Phare Ponleu Selpak is a Cambodian NGO and circus school that gave a home and a second chance to artists and performers at the risk of social exclusion due to drug abuse and human trafficking. The organization stages live performances in trains and stations throughout the country raising awareness on those issues that wreaked havoc in its professionals, but which they are learning to overcome thanks to the power of artistic expression.
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Loeurt To
UNESCO
“I love arts and believe that it can be used as a tool for human and social development. (…) I strongly hope to have more social impact through my work in the creative industry.”
Indeed, IFCD’s support has significantly enhanced the capacities of Phare Ponleu Selpak and its performers. Hieng Huot, Pedagogical Coordinator at a Performing Arts School, also participated in the capacity-building workshops developing Phare Ponleu Selpak’s Curriculum. Persuaded that “the project was the very best opportunity to bring me towards my passion”, she exploited the learning opportunity to boost her career. And there she goes, with a promotion under her sleeve that now enables her to conduct playwrighting and performance direction by herself.
IFCD assistance has also propelled nascent creative industries into global markets, empowering practitioners to sell their artworks worldwide and reach many audience at an unprecedented scale. Latin American cinema is a case in point.
Consuelo Castillo, Director of the Colombian Agency for the Promotion and Distribution of Cinema (DOC:CO), declares:
Through the open-access platform Retina Latina, IFCD’s support to the Colombian Ministry of Culture and its counterparts in Peru, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay has made it possible to give a voice to many artwork pieces who had never ventured out of their creators’ homes.
Consuelo is sanguine about the regulatory support facilitated by IFCD action, and that has uplifted many filmmakers across the Latin American region. Now, Retina Latina gathers in its streamlined website a vast array of film artworks from Latin American emerging creators that a public from afar, Spain, Switzerland or the US, can watch for free and engage with.
The Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and of course Africa too has witnessed the positive impact unleashed by the IFCD. Boucounta Mbaye is a Senegalese trainer in public speaking who participated extensively in the IFCD-backed project Mobiciné, which strove to expand access to cinema in the country and support young cultural entrepreneurs in their creative endeavors. Under the slogan “Cinema everywhere”, the focus of the Mobiciné project was on rural areas where many rising cultural entrepreneurs were devoid of access to professional opportunities, while local communities often lacked cultural venues to witness, engage with or simply enjoy artistic expression.
Mr Mbaye explains:
The expansion of cinema venues contributed to the wellbeing and development of my community by creating spaces for communication, sharing and discovering other cultures through mobile cinema.
Diatta Youssouf, cultural animator in the regional centre of Kédougou, goes even further: “It has been a beautiful and rich experience not only in the professional realm but also in terms of human relationships”. Thus, such transformative influence has translated into a democratization of cinema sweeping through Senegal, training young professionals with valuable skills and creating new employment opportunities for the younger and the older alike.
Finally, as the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the world, the creative industries have borne the brunt of the economic downturn, social exclusion and other issues derived from the upheaval. Such pain has been more acute in emerging economies suffering structural hindrances, and that’s why IFCD has since its inception supported 24 sets of political recommendations to promote cultural and creative sectors in emerging economies.
Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako explains how many African countries lack the structure and policies that take into account the role of artists in society. Very few artists make money and when a drama like the pandemic happens the consequences are severe for artists and creativity. Abderrahmane Sissako urges:
We must take advantage of this opportunity to recall to public authorities the fragility of humanity without culture.
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UNESCO’s Actions to implement the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions contribute to fostering the creative economy worldwide. |
This article is part of a series highlighting voices of UNESCO project beneficiaries.
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UNESCO’s International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD) is a funding mechanism established by the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions to support the emergence of the dynamic cultural and creative industries in developing countries. For more information on the IFCD and the projects it supports, please visit: https://en.unesco.org/creativity/ifcd
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