Louise Mhlanga from Zimbabwe and Sosha Choir from South Africa are among 15 musicians who have joined the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to draw attention to the fact that thousands of people across the world are missing and their families are desperate for answers.
By Staff Reporter
The musicians, who span five continents, came together with the ICRC and Playing for Change, to produce a music video as a tribute to missing people and their families to be released on International Day of the Disappeared (August 30). The campaign aims to highlight the importance of supporting search efforts and ensuring that families looking for their loved ones get the answers that they need.
Together, through music, we wanted to express our solidarity with those who are going through the deep, universal tragedy of not knowing what has happened to a loved one,” said ICRC Field Officer, Temptations Gatsi.
“The families of missing people never give up, even in the face of a global pandemic and other adversity. And we won’t stop helping them either.”
Resolving a case of a missing person is often a complex and lengthy process and families’ efforts to search often continue for years and decades. Throughout this difficult time, families of the missing are in constant motion – searching, looking, wondering, remembering and missing their loved ones. It might seem like impossible work, but it’s not: every hour, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is able to inform a family about a missing relative, and we bring together about 12 families a day.
“While the family is the smallest unit of society, it is the most vital to the individual for psycho-social and economic support. Having a missing relative brings terrible suffering to affected families as they are deprived of this support. This is why the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society, together with the International Committee of the Red Cross and other National Red Cross Societies work tirelessly to draw attention to the human stories behind the overlooked humanitarian tragedies of those who go missing,” said Elias Hwenga, Zimbabwe Red Cross Society Secretary General.
Hwenga added that there is need for continuous efforts by all stakeholders to prevent people from going missing, search for those who are missing and provide information on their fate and whereabouts to their families, and this includes preventing the disruption of family links, restoring and maintaining contact.
The music video is a cover to the U2 song “I Still Haven’t Found What I am Looking For” and includes the following artists: Paulo Heman and Marfa Kurakina from Brazil; Dan Lanois from Canada; Roopak Naigoakar and Tushar Lall from India; Roberto Luti from Italy; Sherieta Lewis and Roselyn Williams from Jamaica; the Amaan choir from Jordan; Kátsica Mayoral from Mexico; Sosha Choir from South Africa, John Cruz, Olivia Ruff, Michael Ruff, Glen David Andrews Band, and Chris Pierce from the United States; and Louise Mhlanga from Zimbabwe.
