Helsinki – World Village festival will be organized again – this year virtually. In a discussion after a movie, IOM expert will talk about the global refugee situation and particularly about the situation of children in the world's largest refugee camp.

During the programme Lost and Found – children who are forced to flee, the festival shows a National Geographic documentary film Lost and Found, which tells the stories of children who are separated from their parents in the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. The protagonist is Kamal Hussein, a Rohingya refugee who spends his days looking for the children's parents to reunite the families.

There are about 30–34 million children in the world fleeing conflict, and many of them are separated from their parents. In the discussion after the movie we hear comments on how that affects children’s lives and if there is a solution to protracted crises. Experts participating in the discussion are Manuel Marques Pereira, Deputy Chief of Mission of IOM Bangladesh and responsible for coordinating IOM's work at the Cox's Bazar's refugee camps, and Jessica Möttö, lawyer from the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR and UNHCR's country focal point for Finland. The moderator will be Emma Rahikainen from UNICEF Finland, school ambassador and content manager for UNICEF youth YouTube Channel. The coordinator of the programme is the UN Association of Finland. The discussion will take place in Finnish and English.

The World Village festival will be organized virtually on 29–30 May 2021 (on Saturday 11 AM–9 PM, on Sunday 11 AM–7 PM). The event features numerous concerts from Finland and abroad, current documentary films, tens of thought-provoking speeches, children’s programme and a trade fair. The theme of the festival is the future. Entrance to all events is free of charge.

More programme will be released on 30 March. The Speaker programme will be published on 8 April. Stay tuned and welcome!

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