Girls Rock! is a volunteer organization working from a feminist perspective to empower young girls, trans, queer and intersex youth through musical creation and equal rights education. The organization's main focus is the Rock Camp that the organization conducts. The Rock Camp gives participants the opportunity to learn to play instruments, group together and perform in bands, learn about musicians and the many facets of music and the fight for equal rights through music. The Camp concludes with a performance by participants in front of an audience.
The Girls Rock Camp has collaborated with the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support the "Girls Rock in Togo" rock summer camp in Togo. The Rock Camps are held in association with the project manager Mirlinda Kuakuvi, female musicians from Togo and Icelandic organization Sun in Togo (Sol i Togo). These are the first Rock Camps held in Togo and potentially West-Africa as a whole. The Camp is designed for 30-50 girls at the ages of 9-19. The Camp is held annually in the city of Kpalime between 2018 and 2021. Project manager Kuakuvi also runs a music center in the capital of Lome for women that also receives funding from the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Girls Rock! is a part of the Girls Rock Camp Alliance (GRCA), an international network of youth centered arts and social justice organizations.
The Rock Camp is held annually in August in the city of Kpalime in Togo. In 2016, Girls Rock! promoted fundraising for instruments to send to the Rock Camps in Togo. Since then, the Camp has received instruments from Iceland every year. In 2017, project manager Kuakuvi opened a music center in the capital of Lome where she runs musical education programs and music activities for girls year-round. Volunteers have also travelled between Rock Camps in Iceland and Togo to participate in and support each other's Camps. The initiative has opened a cultural dialogue between residents of Togo and Iceland, providing opportunities for knowledge sharing and mutual cultural expression.
21,748.68 USD
| Name of partner | Type of entity |
|---|---|
Sun in Togo
| Civil Society Organization (CSO)
|
Girls Rock!
| Civil Society Organization (CSO)
|
Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs
| Public Sector
|