Today we are announcing the full launch of Kivu Youth Music as a partner program between Musicians Without Borders and the Congolese non-profit organization Global Vision for Africa.
Kivu Youth Music began in 2021 as an outreach project of Rwanda Youth Music. Our Rwanda team trained young community leaders in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the skills and knowledge to run music workshops for young people directly affected by conflict. Since then, those music leaders have made music with over 5,000 children and youth in Internally Displaced People camps and orphanages.
Last year we expanded the project’s aims through a partnership with the Dutch committee of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN NL). We are innovating pioneering approaches to integrate music and culture to counter the effects of climate change – which are central to conflict in the region.
This formal launch of Kivu Youth Music as a Musicians Without Borders program, reinforces our commitment to working with young people in this conflict region. Latest figures show over 1.5 million people displaced by conflict in North Kivu, 20% of whom are children. Fighting is worsening, and regional tensions are rising.
“In this deeply conflict-affected region, Kivu Youth Music engages young people through music-making as a nonviolent approach to building communities that are prepared to act creatively and peacefully for their future.”
Chris Nicholson, regional program manager, Central East Africa.
