Voices of Reconciliation and Equality

“Voices of Reconciliation and Equality” uses music to facilitate dialogue around peace, resilience, and gender equality. Whilst its primary aim is to support young people affected by violence, the project also seeks to promote peace, reconciliation, and equality in the larger community.

This project also organises dialogues and radio and social media campaigns in both municipalities. This is designed to amplify local understanding of resilience building and has the potential to reach over 2,000 people

Voices of Reconciliation and Equality is a whole-of-community effort. In 2022 it brought together 277 children and young people, 106 families, 36 music teachers and administrative staff, and 28 local authorities, national institutions, and civil society organizations representatives from the municipalities of Saravena and Puerto Asis..

Voices of Reconciliation enhanced the sense of shared belonging and identity among young participants and their families from communities disproportionately affected by violence.

In 2022, over 270 students in Saravena and Puerto Asís participated in over 70 music classes incorporating themes of equality, peace, and reconciliation. In addition to gaining music skills and awareness of the topics, the activities helped children and adolescents build stronger bonds with their peers. Following the workshops, the active participation of girls increased in the music classes, and the students felt more confident in handling disputes in their family environment.

The project also created an ecosystem of protection against violence around the students, raising awareness of reconciliation and gender equality among families and strengthening collaboration with local authorities on these issues. In 2022, five workshops were held, enabling a higher engagement of families and increased their understanding of issues related to equality, rights of children, traditional gender roles and violence. In addition, meetings with local authorities and a survey completed by people from civil society resulted in the identification of the persisting challenges to the protection of children in the communities.

In 2022, to further increase our reach and impact wider communities, we launched an awareness-raising campaign. As part of the campaign, local concerts were held, audio-visual products were produced, and communication pieces were developed and shared across different platforms. These actions allowed children to strengthen their influence agency in the transformation for peace, equality, and reconciliation, promote peaceful messages, and generate empathy while proving the impact such activities can have.

To maximize impact, the Kofi Annan Foundation, Fundación Nacional Batuta and Alianza para la Paz drew lessons from the experience in the two municipalities. These lessons will enable the creation of a model for mainstreaming peace and gender equality in music education that can be replicated on multiple levels.

Photos: Fundación Nacional Batuta. *Sources: The New Humanitarian & Relief Web