Fair Play for Africa Music Festival

dance4life and Fair Play for Africa Campaign ambassadors, Jenerik Soulz, are set to perform at a festival during the FIFA World Cup on June 18th (11hrs.30 – 23hrs.00) at the King Zwelithini stadium, one of Durban’s official public viewing areas in Umlazi. The Festival is one of the many Fair Play for Africa events in South Africa and nine other countries in Africa to promote African government delivery in expanding access to quality health care for Africans. It is being driven by over 200 African civil society organisations in 10 African countries

The free Festival is in the heart of the Umlazi community, only 17 km from the Durban Business District and one of the biggest townships in South Africa. It is a community where health care access is a daily challenge with the shortage of qualified doctors and nurses, long waiting times, high drop-out rates of ARV treatment and very high HIV levels (approximately 70% of all patients are HIV-infected). KZN has the greatest number of people living with HIV. Whereas the national voluntary HIV and AIDS testing (HCT) campaign aims to get 15 million people tested nationally, the Ethekwini municipality, of which Umlazi is a constituting part, targets 1.2 million of these. The festival will support the national and provincial government HCT campaign and communicate with the community about health and health care access through music, visuals, spoken words, football clinics, competitions, workshops and interviews with ambassadors and government representatives on stage. And of course there will be plenty of football. Starring during the day will be among others: Phillemon Masinga (former Bafana Bafana), Ronny Zondi (former Bafana Bafana), Arthur Zwane (former Bafana Bafana), MC Phumlani Dube and Fair Play ambassadors Maiko Zulu (Zambian reggae artist & activist) and Jenerik Soulz.

The festival gives us the possibility to reach out to thousands of football fans in the greater Umlazi and Durban area and create awareness on health issues and access to health. We will be encouraging the festival attendees to sign up to the Fair Play for Africa campaign pledge and become active stakeholders for universal access to health care in Africa. Through our mobilisation efforts in partnership with the City of Durban’s AIDS Programme, we will encourage people to get tested for HIV/AIDS before and after the festival.

The festival and the Fair Play for Africa Campaign go much further than a one-day event: it is truly aimed at and geared towards leaving a lasting legacy of health. We are just five years away from the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the goals that nearly all international governments have set to halve poverty and increase access to health by 2015. It is also the target year for African governments to fulfil their promises of spending 15% of national budgets on adequate health care provision. This year, while we celebrate our achievements and enjoy the tricks of the world’s best football players, we cannot take our eyes of the ball: we need to work together to accelerate efforts to bring about health for all in Africa.

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Note for the press: more information and accreditation: Alex Klusman, alex@bkbafrica.co.za | (+27) 072 5156808

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Fair Play for Africa is a pan African campaign that aims to use the platform of 2010 FIFA World Cup to ensure equitable access to quality health services for African citizens especially women, children, and people living with HIV and AIDS using civil society organisations from across the African continent.

In support of the campaign, Jenerik Soulz produced and wrote a pumping, energetic and positive theme song titled Leaders of the World (The Whistle Song). Visit http://bit.ly/cpMZvX to download the song.

dance4life is an international initiative that uses dance and music to inspire and empower young people all around the world to battle the spread of HIV and AIDS. Being active in more than 20 countries, from Europe, Africa and Asia, dance4life proves that young people have the power to halt the spread of HIV and AIDS, by uniting all over the world and demanding change, they can make a difference. The dance4life programme in South Africa kicked off in the Eastern Cape on 28th April 2010.

On the 18th of June, after the Fair Play Festival, Jenerik Soulz will launch its album, Room Service, at Club SuCasa (125 Stamford Hill Road) in Durban. Proceeds from this event will be donated to dance4life for its school projects.

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