Art For Peace

Most of Kenyan elections have been marred by violence.
Case in point the 2007/2008 hit the country hard leaving over 1,100 people dead and over 650,000 people displaced and 2013 claimed 477 lives and 118,000 people displaced.
Increase in violence had been strongly attributed to the negative vibe and hate spread by mostly the youth -who make-up over 75% of the electorate - on social media where they openly expressed tribal and political rivalry. They were easy targets for violence perpetration and hate monger.

Kenya being a bedrock of art, Unga wa Dola a flour brand in Kenya chose to tap on the vulnerable youth through what they love - art- and used it as a tool to spread peace throughout the country as we edged closer to the 2017 elections.

Art for peace was born. A 6 weeks campaign "Art for Peace" where we invited the Kenyan youth aged 18 - 35 years who are talented in design, visual, performance and applied arts to come together as ambassadors of peace.

We called upon the Kenyan youth through Unga wa Dola Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to submit their unique artistic peace expressions to the "Art for Peace" microsite www.artforpeace.co.ke and for those who couldn't submit their art pieces they joined the movement by sharing peace pledges on their social media pages.

At the same time we posted "Art for Peace" video with a call to action to the microsite that showcased the diversity in culture and talent amongst the Kenyan youth. The campaign showcased the beauty of Kenya's talent and diversity. It got the attention of people by encouraging many to share their messages of peace through different art forms. Submissions ranged from music, dance, poetry, photography and much more. It proved that there is greatness in oneness.

The results were oustanding with over 576K video views, over 1.4K video shares, 900 submissions, 51.3K website visitors, over 7.3M youths reached and Ksh. 10.4M free PR Value. The overall campaign scooped a Bronze medal award at the 2017 APA - Loeries (Association of Practitioners in Advertising) Awards in Kenya and the campaign video also scooped a Bronze certificate.
Visit: http://www.artforpeace.co.ke/