Art and culture empower 2 000 youths

Humana Youth in Action (HYIA) Arts & Culture Program has exceeded the initial target set last year to empower 2 000 less fortunate young South Africans through arts and culture.

The programme is a partnership project between Humana Spain, Humana People to People in South Africa, Gauteng Organisation of Community Arts and Culture Centres (GOMACC), the University of Girona, Spain’s Unesco Chair in Cultural Policies and Cooperation and funded by the European Union.

The announcement was made at the Youth in Culture Festival and Seminar in Krugersdorp where 2 000 youths gathered for an international seminar on Culture and Development to display their talents and newly acquired skills, and where actors in the field of culture and development can share ideas applicable in South Africa and other developing nations.

“The European Union recognises that unemployment among the youth in South Africa is a big problem. Between three to five million young people in the country don’t have jobs. The Humana Youth in Action programme is an active contribution to future employment of youth with the development of artistic abilities through youth clubs,” said Roeland van de Geer, Head of Delegation of the European Commission, while addressing the youth at the Centenary Hall.

Youth in urban and rural South Africa live in harsh circumstances where they are exposed to lack of opportunities, abuse and crime, high unemployment, and sometimes forced to live on the streets or burdened with the responsibility to head households.

“If you look at the society in South Africa, there is a big difference between rich and poor. Most of the young people growing up in these poor communities don’t get the opportunities that other young people do,” argues Niels Matthiessen, Country Director for Humana People to People in South Africa.

The Humana Youth in Action programme is a direct response to the strained situation of poor young people between the ages of 15 and 35 years, reaching over 2 000 youth in 15 townships on the West Rand, and five townships in Durban.

The programme is aimed at improving artistic and life skills that will contribute positively to their communities’ socio-economic development through drama, music, poetry, sculpture, dance and drawing.

“We recruit youth from the communities into the HYIA youth clubs and there has been an overwhelming response. They can choose any type of activity they want to do – whether it is music, singing, drama or dance – the decision is entirely up to them based on their interests,” explains Sizwe Mbele, a Humana Youth in Action project leader.

“They meet weekly to train and every month they give performances for other youths, bringing messages that address the situation of the youth in society today.”

With the financial support of the EU and partnership with University of Girona in Spain as Unesco Chair in Cultural Policies, the Humana Youth in Action programme has gained traction from a network of South African and European arts and culture stakeholders.