Dignified Storytelling Forum
Organizers and key stakeholders:
About the event
Storytellers, communication experts and advocates from the Development and Humanitarian sectors convened at the Dignified Storytelling Forum on Human Rights Day
Marking a key milestone in its journey to place human dignity at the heart of storytelling, Dignified Storytelling, an initiative by Dubai Cares, Expo 2020 Dubai and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC), hosted its flagship Dignified Storytelling Forum on the 10th of December, 2021 at Dubai Exhibition Center (Hall 1A) at Expo 2020 Dubai, under the theme: “A story can change the world.”
690+
VISITORS
20+
SPEAKERS
15+
SESSIONS
20+
TALKS
Audience profile
The Forum was well attended by relevant professionals working in areas of storytelling, social development issues, education and other sectors.
- NGOs
- Media/marketing
- FMCG
- Education
- Freelancers
- Creative
- Govt./Federal
- Technology
Speakers
The main objective of the Forum was to introduce the Dignified Storytelling Handbook for the first time. The Handbook is designed as an invaluable map for storytellers to better comprehend their responsibilities throughout the storytelling process. Offering critical information in the form of best practices, do’s and don’ts, and hands-on advice, it has been created to enhance understanding, empower storytellers, and make dignified storytelling a common practice in and for communities across the world.
At the end of the Forum, Dignified Storytelling aspired to have empowered the role of the storyteller to include individuals and organisations from all industries, where they will have developed deep respect around dignified storytelling and social responsibility. It is crucial for us, as a community and movement to know that we all have the potential to become dignified storytellers, and that through the Dignified Storytelling Principles, we can all create compassionate and reliable platforms for everyone to share their experiences in an authentic and ethical manner. Dignified Storytelling actively and consistently aimed to maintain the movement created amongst storytellers within this Forum, a movement that enables policy makers and content creators to join efforts in visualising the Dignified Storytelling Principles/Handbook throughout the creative
industries and across society.
As part of our legacy, we are optimistic that we have provided storytellers with a valuable and comprehensible/unequivocal Handbook that helps implement the Dignified Storytelling Principles within our everyday routines, and for our participants to also act as advocates for the Dignified Storytelling Pledge long after the Forum has ended. It is quintessential that we also emphasise the role of the audience and their responsibilities within the storytelling process, as we hope that it is the
audience that will henceforth communicate the integrity and doctrine of Dignified Storytelling, a lasting impression we hope to have portrayed through the exceptional stories and storytellers we have gathered within this Forum.
