UNICEF and Playing For Change Foundation Partner for Children and Adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean

LOS ANGELES, CA and PANAMA CITY, PANAMA--(Marketwired - Aug 8, 2016) -

• The partnership will build on the comparative advantages of each organization to improve conditions for children, families and communities through music
• The immediate deliverables consist of staging music instruction with instrument-building exercises for communities in Honduras and Ecuador

UNICEF and Playing For Change Foundation 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.

The partnership, signed 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, marks 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 are 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."

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 will work 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 will reach 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 upcoming 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 consist of organizing and staging music instruction with instrument-building exercises for communities in Honduras, as well as for children and families in areas of Ecuador impacted by the devastating earthquake last April. Both initiatives will be amplified with orchestrated music events in early August in different countries of the region, as well as in the United States.

About UNICEF

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.

For more information about UNICEF and its work in Latin America and the Caribbean visit: www.unicef.org/lac.

About Playing For Change Foundation

Playing For Change Foundation was established in 2007, providing music education in areas that are culturally rich yet economically challenged. Children in countries around the world, from Africa, Latin America to Southeast Asia, attend free classes in music, dance and languages, taught by qualified local music teachers and led by regional administrators. Students learn about their own cultural traditions while employing technology to connect and share experiences with others around the world.

Playing For Change, led by Co-Founders Mark Johnson and Whitney Kroenke, arose from the universal belief that music can connect people across circumstances, challenges and cultural differences. In 2002, a small group of filmmakers set out with a mobile recording studio in search of inspiration and the heartbeat of the human race on the streets. The first music video production, "Stand By Me," combined 35 musicians from 10 countries who had never met in person. The phenomenon swept across the world, with "Stand By Me," one of the Playing For Change productions, being viewed over 100 million times online and counting.

The Playing For Change Movement has since attracted hundreds of global artists including Sara Bareilles, Jimmy Buffett, Bono, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Ziggy Marley, Keb Mo and Keith Richards, in addition to street musicians from 47 countries who have participated in PFC video recordings.

To learn more, please visit playingforchange.org