Global Challenges Require Global Solutions

Today’s development, security, and environmental crises are affecting billions of people, with emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) experiencing dramatic retreats in their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Entertainment media reaches and influences global audiences and their communities. Worldwide, there are 5.4 billion television viewers, over 5 billion smartphone users, and 1.6 billion Facebook daily active users. Stories that go viral can trigger and sustain crises, as recently shown by the COVID-19 misinformation infodemic. On the other hand, profound demographic shifts together with explosive access to online and mobile platforms in EMDEs are reshaping commercial and development opportunities for the entertainment industry. By 2050, almost all the world’s population growth will occur in EMDEs. These trends are diversifying and enriching the stories the world hears.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the World Bank Narrating Behavior Change Program joint forum discussed how the entertainment and development sectors are leveraging entertainment media to reach audiences with more inclusive and persuasive behavior change messaging during today’s multiple crises. The event consisted of short presentations and a panel that discussed the existing evidence base of ‘edutainment’ — the use of entertainment media with educational and development objectives — and recent partnerships between the entertainment and development sectors to systematically use edutainment to combat global challenges, such as gender equality and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Presentations

	Arianna Legovini Director, Development Impact Evaluation Department, World Bank Opening video and remarks Video Recording
	Helen Hoehne President, Hollywood Foreign Press Association Hollywood always tells a tale…but the world is catching up Presentation \| Video Recording
	Sharon Stone Actor, Producer and Activist Entertainment media for global impact Video Recording
	Victor Orozco Senior Economist and Edutainment Lead, World Bank Edutainment works wonders … when done well Presentation \| Video Recording
	Paul Katz Founder & CEO, Entertain Impact How to engage influencers for purpose and profit Presentation \| Video Recording
	Edwin Ikhuoria Africa Executive Director, ONE #PassTheMic: Innovative partnership between talents and development leaders Presentation \| Video Recording
	Maher Nasser Director of the Outreach Division, Global Communications Department, United Nations Collaborating with creatives to achieve positive change Video Recording
	Madeline Di Nonno President & CEO, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media This is us? How TV does and doesn’t get men’s caregiving Study \| Video Recording
	Christopher Bailey Arts & Health Lead, World Health Organizatio Bringing our better angels through the arts Video Recording
	Panel Discussion Video Recording

FAQ about Development and Edutainment Research

What is edutainment?
Edutainment, short for entertainment-education, is the use of entertainment media with educational and development objectives. Its modern origins began with Mexican soap operas in the late 1960s, a unique collaboration between psychologist Albert Bandura and drama producer Miguel Sabido. Edutainment includes movies, television shows, documentaries, social media campaigns, music, and games. Generally, edutainment can be publicly funded with sharing educational messages as the main goal, or commercially funded with sharing messages as the secondary goal.
What is impact evaluation?
Impact evaluations aim to understand in a causal manner the impact, or effect, of a program or policy on an outcome we’re interested in. For example, what is the impact of a television drama on rates of HIV testing? In this example, impact evaluation would compare rates of HIV testing for groups of people who view the television drama to those who don’t. Experimental evaluations, or randomized controlled trials, provide high-quality comparison groups and therefore credible estimates of the impact.
What is the World Bank?
With 189 member countries, staff from more than 170 countries, and offices in over 130 locations, the World Bank Group is a unique global partnership: five institutions working for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build prosperity in developing countries. The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. The World Bank Group is part of the United Nations System. To learn more, visit the World Bank website.
What are the Sustainable Development Goals?
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a model for peace and prosperity, now and into the future. At its heart are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries—developed and developing—in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand in hand with improving health and education, reducing inequality, and spurring economic growth—all while tackling climate change and preserving our oceans and forests. To learn more, visit the United Nations SDGs website.
What is the World Bank Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) Department?
DIME produces high-quality data and research to transform development policy, reduce extreme poverty, and secure shared prosperity. The department conducts research in 60 countries with 200 agencies, leveraging a $180 million research budget against $18 billion in development finance. It also advises 30 development agencies worldwide. To learn more, visit the DIME website.
What is the World Bank Narrating Behavior Change program?
Founded in 2016, the World Bank DIME Narrating Behavior Change program (DIME-NBC) is a collaboration between researchers and practitioners from governments, the World Bank, development agencies, and media firms. The program aims to both increase our knowledge of edutainment across multiple development sectors, and scale up edutainment in development investments.

Working in the “Hollywoods of the world”—the entertainment hubs of Nigeria, India, and Mexico, among others—the program works with leading think tanks and media firms, including the MTV Staying Alive Foundation, Impact(Ed) International (formerly Discovery Learning Alliance), Meta (formerly Facebook), the Population Foundation of India, BBC Media Action, Cinepolis, IN2, Curious Learning, and the Hollywood Health & Society program at the University of Southern California. Superstar celebrities from Nollywood (Desmon Elliot and Otomola Ekehinde), Bollywood (Farhan Akhtar), and academia (MIT Professor Abhijit Banerjee, DIME co-author and 2019 Nobel Laureate in Economics) have supported DIME-NBC research and events. To learn more, visit the World Bank Narrating Behavior Change website.
What are examples of high-impact edutainment?
By high-impact, we mean that impact evaluations found that this programming greatly impacted the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of audiences in developing countries. And in some cases, even had impacts on other community members that were indirectly exposed to this media (for example, family or friends viewed the programming). These examples improved outcomes related to HIV, gender-based violence, aspirations, gender equality, and learning.
- MTV Shuga (TV drama produced by the MTV Staying Alive Foundation that included in its early seasons Golden Globe and Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o).
- Queen of Katwe (Movie produced by Walt Disney Pictures, ESPN Films, Cine Mosaic, Mirabai Films, and Participant Media).
- My Better World (Docu-series produced by Impact(Ed), formerly Discovery Learning Alliance).
- Court of Sex (TV drama produced by Population Foundation of India).
- Feed The Monster (Gamified app produced by Curious Learning).
What is the Hollywood Foreign Press Association?
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who report on the entertainment industry activity and interests in the United States for media predominantly outside the U.S. With over 100 members from more than 50 countries, HFPA conducts the annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony in Los Angeles every January, which honors notable film, television, and other entertainment achievements. In 2021, the Golden Globes generated more social media impressions (1.6 billion) and positive sentiments (91 percent) than any other LA entertainment awards. The HFPA Philanthropy arm supports entertainment-related nonprofit organizations, academic programs, and humanitarian organizations across developed and developing countries. To learn more, visit the HFPA Golden Globe Awards website.
What are the HFPA-World Bank global forums?
The HFPA-World Bank global forums aim to promote the growth of edutainment programming worldwide. They will tackle issues such as harnessing the power of entertainment and popular culture to support development goals and help educate, empower, and motivate communities to action. While previous World Bank forums have focused on publicly funded productions for audiences in developing countries (see World Bank forum “Using Entertainment Media to Reach the SDGs”), the new HFPA-WB forums will explore the challenges and opportunities for public-private partnerships to scale up investments in edutainment, including with the LA-based industry and its celebrities.