Project HOPE & Renowned Artist Stefan Szczesny Partner to Raise Awareness of United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals at the Bol d’Or Mirabaud

Washington, DC (18 May 2023) – Project HOPE – the global health and humanitarian aid organization – is partnering with the world-renowned artist Stefan Szczesny at the Bol d’Or Mirabaud in Geneva this June in honor of Project HOPE’s 65th anniversary to raise awareness of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The SDGs offer a blueprint to address global challenges like poverty, climate change, peace, and health. Szczesny’s collaboration with Project HOPE aims to highlight SDG 3 – to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all – which is particularly critical as the globe recovers from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated health systems and set back the clock on key health indicators.

“Over the past 65 years, Project HOPE’s programs have made measurable progress around the world to reduce maternal and child mortality rates, curb the HIV epidemic, ensure access to sexual and reproductive health services, and expand access to primary and mental health services,” said Project HOPE’s President & CEO, Rabih Torbay. “We are deeply honored to be collaborating with Stefan Szczesny to raise awareness of the United Nation’s health-focused Sustainable Development Goal, SDG 3. As we near 2030, it is our collective responsibility to create a world where everyone, everywhere has access to quality health services.”

“It is a personal concern of mine to contribute to the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and to express this with my artistic means. Each of the sails I have created symbolizes one of the sustainability goals to be achieved by 2030,” said Stefan Szczesny. “I really hope that it will motivate people and that the seriousness will be understood. If everyone takes on just one sail – that is, one goal – and works to achieve it, together we will make a big difference.”

With the theme of “Art of HOPE,” the partnership aims to spotlight the intersection between art and health, with a focus on the importance of mental health as a foundation from which other health indicators flow. To bring this to life at the Bol d’Or Mirabaud, Project HOPE will be showcasing art created by children impacted by the war in Ukraine through its art therapy programs that take place in safe spaceswhere displaced families can access resources, activities, and mental health support as they rebuild community.

Additionally, Szczesny will be exhibiting his 17 hand-painted sails to represent each of the 17 SDGs – through Sailing #Art4GlobalGoals of Geuer & Geuer Art and the YOU Foundation. He will also be exhibiting a new hand-painted sail to commemorate Project HOPE’s 65 years of service transforming the health and well-being of people and communities around the world.

To schedule an interview, please contact media@projecthope.org. Attending media is invited to participate in a press conference on June 8 and in a media day on June 9. Spokespeople will be available for remote and/or in-person interviews.

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About Project HOPE

Founded in 1958, Project HOPE is a leading global health and humanitarian organization operating in more than 25 countries around the world. We work side-by-side with local health systems to save lives and improve health. Our mission is at the epicenter of today’s greatest health challenges, including infectious and chronic diseases, disasters and health crises, maternal, neonatal and child health and the policies that impact how health care is delivered. For more information on Project HOPE and its work around the world, visit www.ProjectHOPE.org and follow us on Twitter @ProjectHOPEorg.

About Stefan Szczesny

Born in Munich, Stefan Szczesny is a painter, sculptor and photographer who was one of the German representatives and protagonists of the Neue Wilden movement in the 1980s, along with Baselitz, Lüpertz, Dokoupil and Penck. He has made a name for himself internationally with his neo-expressive paintings. Szczesny, who studied painting with Gunther Fruhtrunk, initially created abstract pictorial works until he turned to figurative painting in the late 1970s through his intensive study of the works of Eugène Delacroix. Szczesny regards this as sensual and true to life, swapping the world of geometric forms that previously defined his pictorial worlds for landscapes and people. UNESCO Special Ambassador Dr. h.c. Ute Henriette Ohoven, Prof. Dr. Beate Reifenscheid, director of the Ludwig Museum Koblenz and curator Dirk Geuer (AAP) entrusted the artist in 2020 with the artistic interpretation of the 17 Global Goals for the #Art4GlobalGoals campaign, which promotes awareness and activation for the goals internationally.

About the Bol d’Or Mirabaud 

The Bol d’Or Mirabaud is the world’s premier sailing regatta held on a lake. It reassembles 500+ sailing boats and 2500+ sailors. Started in 1939, it has always been a center of innovation and marine-related technology and acts as a showcase for Swiss sailing, bringing together professional and amateur sailors on the same course. The competitors race from Geneva to Le Bouveret and back, on a 123km course around Lake Geneva.