International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights

Good evening to all. Thank you for the invitation to speak at what I believe to be one of the most important events on the City of Geneva’s cultural and human rights agenda. It is an honour to participate.

As you mark the twentieth anniversary of the Film Festival, I want to congratulate everyone involved for your years of commitment and dedication to human rights and to bringing the human stories that matter to our screens.

Film is an extraordinarily powerful tool to bring human rights to life. With its diversity, it can unite us. It has the ability to influence, persuade and to break down metaphorical walls and borders. It enables us to find connections with other people’s stories.

And through these connections and the exploration of a common humanity, we can be inspired to act, and to drive change.  

Just two years ago, very few people sitting here tonight could have predicted the world we all live in today. A world that has been tipped upside down by the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Where human rights hang in the balance. Where borders were slammed closed, with millions cut off from their loved ones. Where children’s right to education was thrown into limbo. Where systemic inequalities rose even further to the surface.

Yet as we enter the third year of the pandemic, we need to find moments of hope. And I strongly believe we are surrounded by these moments.

Science has delivered us effective vaccines and treatments to fight this long battle. As individuals, as families, as communities, we have drawn upon deep reserves of strength, and have demonstrated remarkable resilience. Activists and human rights defenders have mobilized to demand change.  Many countries are taking concrete steps to put human rights front and centre of their response, recovery and prevention strategies.

The world is currently submerged in an array of human rights challenges and crises. From COVID-19 to the environmental emergency to rising racism and hate speech.

In the face of this, we must choose the trajectory of solidarity. Now is a critical window
of opportunity to explore and embrace a future that is fairer, healthier and more sustainable.

A world with decency, humanity and dignity at its core.

Human rights can - and will - help us emerge stronger, and better, from the myriad of crises we face.

I would like to express my gratitude to the organizers of this Festival for bringing the Geneva and international communities together to stand up for human rights at this critical moment in our lives.

I wish you all a wonderful evening, and an enriching Festival ahead.

Thank you.