8th Borneo Eco Film Festival partners with Unicef

BEFF programme director Melissa Leong said the collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) will prove mutually beneficial in achieving both objectives. -NSTP/MALAI ROSMAH TUAH

KOTA KINABALU: The Borneo Eco Film Festival (BEFF) this year aims to better raise awareness about child rights through collaboration with partners that share the same goals.

BEFF programme director Melissa Leong said the collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) will prove mutually beneficial in achieving both objectives.

“In line with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals outlined by the United Nations, our festival will support a number of these goals including sustainable cities and communities, consumption and production, reduced inequalities and gender equality.

“The collaborations include visiting secondary schools by next month to conduct talks on environmental and social sustainability with an emphasis on children’s rights,” Leong said in a press conference here.

BEFF, which is now in its 8th year, is a non-profit programme organised by Melapi the Society for Holistic Outreach, Research and Environmental Action.

This year’s three-day BEFF will begin on Nov 2 at the Suria Sabah shopping mall here.

Meanwhile, UNICEF representative to Malaysia Marianne Clark-Hattingh said that when given the opportunity, children and young people can be powerful agents of change.

“We need to get them involved in finding solutions to the problems that affect them,” she said, adding that empowered children will come up with creative and innovative solutions to the world’s problems.

She said the younger generation needed to be aware of the world’s most pressing issues and must be familiar with issues related to sustainable development goals.

The activities lined up for the BEFF include a youth and education outreach programme through workshops and volunteer work.

The outreach programme known as the Youth Action Agenda comprises three initiatives: the “No plastic Straw” Campus , Improve Waste Management at Pulau Gaya through Youth Empowerment, and EcoYouth Green School Initiative.

The festival is offering cash prizes of RM3,000, RM2, 000 and RM1,000 for winners of the one-minute short film competition “Boleh Bah Filem Kita.”

For full details of the event can be obtained from www.beff.org.my.