Shaping the future: Our strategy for research and innovation in humanitarian response.

A global organisation that finds solutions to complex humanitarian problems through research and innovation..
Our purpose is clear: we work in partnership with a global community of humanitarian actors, researchers and innovators to improve the quality of humanitarian action and deliver better outcomes for people affected by crises.
We empower the humanitarian community. Find out how we can support you...

WHAT HUMANITARIAN NEED IS BEING ADDRESSED?

Few efforts have been made to address the problem of how best to assist survivors of sexual violence in their recovery, aid in their reintegration, promote healing in the affected communities, and bring an end to sexual violence. Provision of psycho-social support is often viewed as a separate endeavour from physical healing and from reintegration of survivors and the rebuilding of their lives and futures on more stable ground. Western-style “talk” therapies are insufficient to deal with the trauma of sexual violence, especially where survivors are unintentionally further isolated in a “safehouse” context. A holistic, culturally relevant approach is necessary.

WHAT’S THE INNOVATION?

Integrated into Panzi’s full holistic healing model for survivors of sexualized violence and traumatized populations, our program has demonstrated statistically significant results in reducing levels of anxiety and PTSD through its unique approach to music therapy. Working in tandem with a trained psychologist and music producer, participants heal together by writing, recording, and professionally producing songs about their experiences. Through rigorous documentation of our model, development of operations and training manuals, and the provision of technical support, we will scale our program through an affiliate model that will retain the local control and cultural relevance necessary for success.

After a HIF development and implementation grant to pilot this programme proved successful, continued funding enables the development of this innovation with the aim of scaling up this innovation in the humanitarian sector.

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Latest Updates

Healing In Harmony expands into Canada

21 May 2019

Make Music Matter has partnered with Fox Lake Cree Nation to bring its innovative Healing in Harmony music therapy program to Indigenous communities in Canada.

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2019May

Franchising their innovation: Healing in Harmony’s Scale Vlog #4

20 Mar 2019

As they enter the final phase of their journey Healing in Harmony look back at how a belief formed 10 years ago – that music heals – has grown into a social franchise that is helping survivors of sexual violence across the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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Mar

The power of partnerships: Panzi Foundation & Make Music Matter Scale Vlog #3

1 Nov 2018

If new innovations are to truly get to a scale that begins to ensure self-growth, sustainability and therefore viewing its beneficiaries en masse as equals, then the question arises, “Wouldn’t we need to include the private sector as well? Wouldn’t we as a sector eventually exhaust our pool of resources and expertise if we didn’t?”

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2018Nov

Local songs with a global voice

31 Jul 2018

A blog by Frances Hill, Effective Partnerships Manager, Elrha, and mentor to the Healing in Harmony project through Elrha’s Journey to Scale initiative. Photo Credit: Platon for The People’s Portfolio and Dr. Denis Mukwege

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Jul

Artists not patients

15 Jun 2018

One of the cornerstones of the Healing in Harmony model is the treatment of our beneficiaries as artists. We strongly feel that the role of the artist in society can be a powerful tool in the restoration of an individual’s self-worth and dignity regardless of socio-economic status.

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Jun

Panzi Foundation & Make Music Matter: Scale Vlog #2

10 May 2018

Since we last caught up with them Panzi Foundation have been focusing on expanding their music therapy programme for gender-based violence (GBV) survivors, Healing in Harmony, building a new music studio and researching the programme’s impact as part of their Journey to Scale.

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May

Launch in Rural DRC

7 Aug 2017

A report on two major components of this Journey to Scale; the training centre at Maison Dorcas and the on target completion of the first stand alone studio in rural DRC

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2017Aug

Panzi Foundation's first vlog on the #JourneytoScale

17 Jul 2017

Panzi Foundation and Make Music Matter aim to scale up their music therapy programme to gender-based violence (GBV) survivors across the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Jul

Journey to Scale Begins!

20 Apr 2017

To date, this innovation has been widely successful in providing treatment/rehabilitation to over 1200 survivors of sexual violence and other traumatized, vulnerable communities within the urban setting of Panzi Hospital’s aftercare facility Maison Dorcas in Bukavu.

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Apr

All Eyes On Me

11 Jul 2016

Wherever there is suffering, there is a need to express oneself and music is one of the few constants in every culture. In the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), there also persists a culture of stigma, created by the widespread practice of rape.

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2016Jul

The Criminal Father

18 Feb 2016

"Four months after my last visit to our music therapy program, I noticed a distinct change; as our beneficiaries filed into our recording studio, I observed they had all brought notepads with them containing lyrical, melodic and thematic ideas for songs – in the past, beneficiaries would often arrive empty handed, dependent on the guidance and creative prompting of our staff..."

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Feb

Everyone has a story that deserves to be heard

29 Oct 2015

An invaluable responsibility, when working in the international development and human rights sphere, is to ingest overwhelming facts and statistics and transform them into flesh and blood realities. Everyone has a story that deserves to be heard.

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2015Oct

Related Resources

Video Gender-based Violence

The Importance of Music Therapy

See the whole Journey to Scale

All our Journey to Scale projects have been keeping video diaries of their progress. Watch them to see how the different projects have grown.

See the journey

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