Supported by Soka Gakkai and run by Musicians Without Borders (MWB), the Al-Musiqa Tajm’ana: “Music Brings Us Together” program in Jordan completed its third year of implementation in 2023.

Launched in 2021, the project aims to create a network of local musicians and music teachers who use music as a tool to enhance social inclusion by stimulating creative development and bringing hope and joy to children and youth in marginalized refugee and host communities. The program was developed based on a needs assessment of the community.

During the first three years of its implementation, 91 trainees participated as primary beneficiaries in the training courses, which included two curricula: “Music Leadership Training” and “Music as Therapy.”

The trainees have implemented about 400 music workshops in total, which positively impacted more than 1,200 children of different backgrounds and origins including Egyptians, Iraqis, Jordanians, Palestinians and Syrians. The music activities learned in the program include body percussion, rhythms, movement to music, songwriting, composing and new variations on music games.

The second phase of the program will launch in 2024, putting more emphasis on children with special needs, orphans, and formerly incarcerated youth, in addition to strengthening the network of music trainers.

Since the affirmation of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) in 2018, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has encouraged States, organizations, businesses, academics and refugees themselves to submit pledges to work toward advancing the objectives of the GCR. In light of the “Music Brings Us Together” program’s first phase outcomes, the Soka Gakkai and MWB submitted a joint pledge to the Second Global Refugee Forum (GRF), which was held from 13–15 December 2023 in Geneva. They will continue delivering this service to more than 300 children in refugee and host communities each year.

The GRF is held every four years in order to accelerate the practical implementation of the objectives set out in the GCR, which aims to improve situations facing the world’s refugees. Prior to the forum in 2023, Soka Gakkai submitted another pledge to help raise awareness of the situation of refugees in Japan, aiming to widen the circle of support for them. In addition, SGI representatives attended the interfaith meeting during the forum and agreed upon the Religious Leaders Statement.