The “Arab region Youth Arts & Music Initiative” (AYAMI)

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The “Arab region Youth Arts & Music Initiative” (AYAMI) is an initiative by the UNDP Regional Programme for Arab States. Its overall objective is to raise awareness among children and young men and women on the 2030 Global Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and prepare them to become drivers of related efforts.

AYAMI places art and music at its core, because they represent powerful, yet simple, tools to communicate complex messages and engage people and communities. It also emphasizes the use of the Arabic language as it helps to localize the SDGs and anchor them in the mindsets and consciousness of future adults, while being accessible to them in every school and home across the region, ensuring that no one is left behind.

In its first phase, AYAMI is producing and promoting AHDAFI, which is a multimedia product comprised of an original song and a music video, both of which feature seven young talented singers, who hail from different Arab countries and had previously starred in the Arabic version of world-famous franchise "The Voice Kids: Ahla Sawt" (meaning Best Voice) and were selected in collaboration therewith. They are representatives of the target audience and are most suitably positioned to inspire their peers and instill in them a strong sense ownership of the content of AHDAFI, which literally translates into "My Goals".

AYAMI's second phase will follow in 2021. It will use AHDAFI to engage and educate students in public and private schools on the SDGs and provide them with tailored spaces that encourage creative and critical thinking and enable them to use art (music, theatre, poetry, dance, painting, etc.) to formulate and communicate their thoughts, concerns and aspirations regarding the SDGs. Related activities will be implemented by UNDP in selected countries, in collaboration with concerned ministries (education, youth, culture, etc.), schools, local NGOs that work with children and youth, and sister UN agencies.   

UNDP will work with the national authorities and educational institutions to document and widely communicate emerging good practices and lessons learned and integrate them in school curricula and extra-curricular activities, with a view to sustaining the momentum created and results achieved by AYAMI.

The Voice Kids: Ahla Sawt who are participating in AYAMI initiative are sending a message about COVID-19



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