At the end of 2016 the total number of people globally displaced by violence reached 66 million – equal to 1 of every 113 people in the world.  Of that number, approximately 12 million are between the ages of 12 and 18. In 2016, UN High Commissioner of Refugees Filippo Grandi described as “…often fall(ing) by the wayside in humanitarian response and programming, even though they have great capacity to become agents of change.”  The long term effects of this lack of attention remain to be seen, but it can be hypothesized that it will impede societal development both socially and economically.

My Intention Was Not To Leave shares the stories of three unaccompanied minor children as they reflect on their treacherous journeys in order to find a better future. Produced by Concordia Member Nicole Riggs, the film was developed to inform diverse audiences of the specific issues facing displaced adolescents, to include trauma, education, and opportunity gap. The powerful narrative reframes displaced adolescents as children with the resilience and desire to work towards a better future for themselves and their host communities.

Join Concordia for the debut screening of My Intention Was Not To Leave on February 1st in New York City. This screening is a Member Benefit that builds on Concordia’s programming related to the global refugee crisis at the 2016 and 2017 Annual Summits and the 2017 Europe Summit in Athens, Greece. The screening will launch the Concordia-Make It Happen partnership My Intention Is, which will leverage media-driven discussions to design and build locally informed opportunities around the world that enable displaced adolescents to reach their full potential.

 Agenda:

6:00 – 7:00: Reception

7:00 – 8:00 PM: Film Screening and Discussion

The discussion will be led by:

Nicole Riggs, Producer of My Intention Was Not To Leave, founder of Make It Happen, and Concordia Member

Gregory Maniatis, Director of the International Migration Initiative, Open Society Foundations

Sana Mustafa, Founding Member, The Network for Refugee Voices

Logistics:

The event will take place in Manhattan and is open to Concordia Members. The address will be made available upon registration. If you are interested in attending but are not a Concordia Member, please contact hdalmut@concordia.net.