In the Democratic Republic of Congo, music is an important tool to deliver relevant messages to communities on Covid-19 preventive measures, notably the youth. With Internews technical support, Aw’Art created a song Toko Longa Corona in French and the 4 national languages of the DRC (Lingala, Swahili, Tshiluba and Kikongo) and produced the related videoclip. Toko Longo Corona means We are going to beat the Corona(virus) in Lingala, the main language spoken in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Several renowned artists (Jean Goubald, Pamela Baketana, Jacques Tshimankinda, Moli Mokelenge, Sarah Lula, Royce Mbumba) joined Fred Kabeya, who wrote the song, to delivrer preventive messages. Aw’art is an association of artists that developed production capacities in the lively neighborhood of Bandalungwa in Kinshasa.

In DRC, Internews support online and community media outlets to provide relevant information on Covid-19, notably women-led #RDCEnsembleContreCOVID19 media campaigns on preventive measures. Internews supports 4 local media organizations in the production of audio and video spots:  Congolese Union of Women Media Professionals (UCOFEM), Congolese Association of Print Press Women journalists (ACOFEPE), Association of Online News Media outlets (MILRDC) and Kandindi. Video messages by famous women journalists have been produced in French and the four national languages and, so far, there have been 18 reports by young women journalists.

These activities are funded by USAID and the Swedish cooperation.