The organizations have signed a three-year regional partnership to build on the comparative advantages of each organization to improve conditions for children, families and communities through music, thus contributing to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Screening the new music video OYE, children from Latin America harmonized and beckoned to the world with lyrics that included the appeal, "Are you listening?" followed by a live performance of the song by youth of the Baja Musical Arts Initiative.
The partnership, signed this summer in Panama City, Panama, by UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and Caribbean Maria Cristina Perceval and Playing For Change Foundation Executive Director John McKenna, marked the first official alliance bridging the world's leading agency on children's rights with the ground-breaking music mission advancing artistic expression as a direct channel for peace building, conflict resolution and positive change.
"This partnership with UNICEF further demonstrates when we help others we also help ourselves to move forward in positive ways as global citizens," Playing For Change Co-Founder Mark Johnson said. "No matter how many things in life divide us, they are never as strong as the power of music and inspiration to bring us back together."
"Participation in cultural, recreational and artistic activities is every child's right," said Maria Cristina Perceval, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. "We are very proud to partner with an inspiring and creative organization such as Playing For Change Foundation to drive positive change through music for the 200 million children and adolescents in the region, particularly the most vulnerable."
"In Baja Musical Arts Initiative we believe that music has the power to positively impact the living conditions of the communities we benefit in Baja California, Mexico City and New York," said Baja Musical Arts Initiative Executive Director Monica Abrego. "In a joint effort with Playing For Change we will increase the number of beneficiaries and strengthen our community choirs and orchestras program Redes."
Following the Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Children, which recognizes the right of the child to engage in play and recreational activities, and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts, UNICEF in Latin America and the Caribbean region and Playing For Change Foundation are working jointly as strategic partners to create a social movement promoting policies for music to reach every child, in particular the most vulnerable, including in times of emergency.
Together, the partners are reaching out to academic supporters, communities and regional associations for funding while positioning music at a policy level. Additionally, the deal calls for the partners to work jointly in the production of multimedia projects and special events, including World Peace Day, International Day of the Girl Child and the United Nations Summit on Refugees and Migrants.
Playing For Change Foundation's global network of music schools includes campuses in Brazil and Argentina, with a slate of programs emerging in Mexico. "In a region with such a rich and diverse musical heritage, yet so many social concerns for children and young people especially, this partnership could not be more pertinent," said Playing For Change Foundation Board Member Gabriella Windsor, who will serve in a special capacity as liaison in the mission. "What a great opportunity to make a real difference through music."
The immediate deliverables of the partnership consisted of organizing and staging music instruction with instrument-building exercises for communities in Honduras facing extreme violence, as well as children in areas of Ecuador impacted by the devastating April earthquake. Content from the experiences were incorporated into a series of video productions, including OYE.
www.unicef.org/lac
www.playingforchange.org
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