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The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) and the Narrating Behavior Change Program of the World Bank, in collaboration with former NASA producer Michael Carbajal, on July 27 presented the first in a series of Global Forums focused on the growth of edutainment programming around the world and the use of entertainment media with educational objectives.

Actor/producer/activist Sharon Stone has joined the panel that includes Christopher Bailey, Arts & Health Lead, World Health Organization; Madeline Di Nonno, President/CEO, Geena Davis Institute; Helen Hoehne, President, HPFA; Edwin Ikhouria, Executive Director, ONE Campaign Africa; Paul Katz, Founder/CEO, Entertain Impact; Maher Nasser, Director Outreach Division, Global Communications Department, United Nations; Victor Orozco, Senior Economist and Edutainment Lead, World Bank; with Arianna Legovini, Director the Development Impact Evaluation, World Bank as event moderator.  

The debut HFPA-World Bank Global Forum Zoom event was held on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 from 11 AM-1 PM PT (2-4 PM ET) and can be viewed at https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2022/07/19/global-challenges-require-global-solutions-innovative-partnerships-between-the-entertainment-and-development-sectors

“For the debut forum in our series, we have curated an incredible panel featuring experts in their respective fields,” comments Carbajal. “The panelists will demonstrate through their presentations and discussions how high-quality edutainment can be a game changer as we address today’s global challenges.”

While previous World Bank forums focused on publicly funded productions for audiences in developing countries, the new HFPA-World Bank forums will explore the challenges and opportunities for public-private partnerships to systematically scale up investments in edutainment, including with the LA-based industry and its celebrities. The online event will be publicly available and will target both the entertainment and development sectors. 

Edutainment promotes and supports programs designed to combat poverty, gender inequality and climate change, among others. These issues are at the core of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks of investors, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries to address today’s global challenges.

These new HFPA-World Bank forums will tackle issues such as harnessing the power of entertainment and popular culture to support development goals and help educate, empower and motivate communities around the world to action.

Photo courtesy of WikiCommons.