STAND UP FOR MIGRANTS
SWITZERLAND
Creator and Director : Christina MacGillivray
2018, Geneva, Switzerland
In 2018, Christina MacGillivray created the United Nations Human Rights' first-ever comedy festival, where international comedians shared unique stories and perspectives on migration.
Christina led the creation of this groundbreaking event by forging key partnerships between the United Nations Human Rights Office, the Government of Switzerland, the City of Geneva, and Amnesty International. The festival was held in celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Migrants Day.
Stand-Up for Migrants featured a diverse lineup of comedians, including Hari Kondabolu, Evelyn Mok, Deborah Frances-White, Noman Hosni, Thomas Wiesel, Charles Nouveau, and Bruno Peki. The festival also included a live recording of the popular podcast The Guilty Feminist, which has over 35 million downloads.
The event drew 1,500 attendees, and the show was produced in both French and English.
Stand-Up for Migrants was created with the belief that we need shared spaces of laughter and creativity in an era of profound divisiveness in our societies. Comedy provides a reflective lens to examine our own societies. Through laughter, we can remember we have more in common than what divides us.
COMEDY AS A GATEWAY FOR CHANGE
Comedy is a well-established tool to drive social change on civic issues by:
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Attracting attention and helping people remember information.
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Making complex civic and economic topics accessible.
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Breaking down barriers and social norms in non-threatening ways.
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Opens the door for increased audience engagement and information.
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Providing sharable, conversation-driving content that multiplies message reach.
Stand-Up for Migrants combines comedy with intelligent commentary on migration, xenophobia and rising nationalism in the world.
PODCAST EPISODE
The program was rebroadcast as a podcast on Deborah Frances-White's wildly popular podcast Guilty Feminist. The podcast episode featured Deborah Frances-White in conversation with Hari Kondabolu and his mother Uma Kondabolu about Uma's experience migrating to the United States.
Listen to the podcast episode here.
THE VENUE
Stand-Up for Migrants was held in the historic Victoria Hall in Geneva, Switzerland. The event drew 1500 people.
