UNFPA to launch 'Music for Development' in 16th Summer Festival

CAIRO – 19 July 2018: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) cooperates with Bibliotheca Alexandrina to launch the “Music for Development” project during the 16th International Summer Festival, hosted by the Bibliotheca, according to a press release from UNFPA.

The project is part of the UNFPA’s 10th program cycle on entertainment education starting from 2018 to 2022, through which it will combat all forms of harmful practices in Egypt such as population growth, female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriage, where young men and women and youth bands will raise awareness on these issues through arts.

The initiative, supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in Egypt, will be launched through a concert presented during the International Summer Festival, hosted annually by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Attended by UNFPA Representative in Egypt Aleksandar Bodiroza, the concerts’ songs will be performed by Alexandria-based bands, presenting five thematic songs on small-sized families, abandonment of female genital mutilation, promoting youth engagement and women’s rights to education and reproductive health.

“Music is a fundamental channel of communication; it provides a means through which people can share emotions and intentions. Music can exert powerful physical and behavioral effects, can produce deep and profound emotions… That’s why UNFPA has been partnering with a number of celebrities in order to use their prominent social standing and the peer credibility they have with young people to raise awareness on issues related to family planning, female genital mutilation and early marriage,” said Bodiroza.

The International Summer Festival kicked off on July 16. The International Summer Festival is a massive music and arts festival organized by the BA Arts Center with the goal of adding a “colourful taste” to summers in Alexandria, as explained in their mission statement. The 2018 edition will house more than 60 versatile artistic events, varying between music, theatre, cinema and dance.