Could Arts Stop Human Trafficking?

On Sunday, “The Role of Cinematography in Combating Human Trafficking" panel took place.

Mariam Farag, the Head of Corporate Sustainability & Social Impact at MBC Group, moderated it. This panel aimed to highlight the role of arts in decreasing such phenomena.

The discussion was joined by Ambassador Chairperson of the National Coordinating Committee for Combating and Preventing Illegal Migration and Trafficking in Persons Naela Gabr, and Ambassador Laurent De Boeck.

De Boek is the IOM Chief of Mission to the Arab Republic of Egypt. Cristina Albertin, the Regional Representative for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) took part in the event.

Moreover, famous Egyptian stars Asser Yassin and Nelly Karim attended the discussion alongside CIFF President Mohamed Hefzy.

The panel was sponsored by the National Coordinating Committee For Preventing And Combating Illegal Migration And Human Trafficking (NCCPIMTIP).

Gabr started the talk by explaining the efforts presented by the Egyptian social institutions to overcome this phenomenon.

She expressed that the concerned institutions with preventing human trafficking are working on several methods related to protection, and awareness.

Gabr highlighted the importance of using the short number provided by the authorities to inform them about any human trafficking cases.

In the same context, Albertin reviewed the international means to stop this crisis represented in the UN and its convention to stop human trafficking.

Moreover, she asserted the importance of cooperating with public institutions including the educational one so the rising generations could have a good background about this phenomenon.

Therefore, De Boeck mentioned that this crisis is a global one and he asserted the importance of global cooperation to prevent the spread of human trafficking.

Next, he explained the role of arts in raising awareness so they cooperated with two celebrated actors in the region like Asser Yassin and Nelly Karim.

De Boeck highlighted that arts need to master engaging the humanitarian subjects to the artistic work to preserve the audience's attention.

On his side, Yassin talked about the role of the artist in society. "We try to form teams to save children who are in need. We should help them to overcome their hard conditions. This is our role as artists and we are ready for cooperating with the social institutions at any time," Yassin said.

Karim added, "I studied a lot about this phenome and the IOM. I received good feedback about the services they provide."

She revealed that she met a case of human trafficking, therefore, she decided to cooperate with the IOM as she catches the feelings of human trafficking victims.

In the same context, Hefzy explained that arts need to deliver those messages in a good way to catch the feelings of the audience.

Discussing a humanitarian crisis can be discussed in commercial films such as Taken. He also reviewed a number of his works that expressed some humanitarian issues such as "Tito," and "Asmaa." Also, Karim spoke about her "Sign El Nessa" (Women's Jail) and the various women's types the show shed light on.

It is worthy to mention that CIFF established a prize given to the best film that discussed a humanitarian issue.

This panel was part of the 3rd Cairo Industry Days activities. Cairo Industry Days is held on the sidelines of the Cairo International Film Festival.

The 42nd CIFF kicked off on  December 2 and it will conclude its activities on December 10.