Gender@Work

Music In Africa Gender @ Work is a three-year training programme aimed at upskilling and increasing the participation of female professionals in the African music sector. Launched by the Music In Africa Foundation (MIAF) in April 2019, the programme is connected to the MIAF’s ACCES music conference – a pan-African event held in a different African country every year. This connection enables the programme to reach new participants in a different African country every year.

The programme marks the beginning of a more concerted effort by the Foundation to support the participation and inclusion of women in all facets of its programmes and the music sector in Africa as a whole. Over the three years, the programme will aim to address gender imbalances in the sector through training, lobbying, facilitating knowledge exchange and dialogues that foster the interest of women.

The broader objectives of the programme are to:

• Provide industry training for women on critical music industry skills, focusing on:
  • Stage management
  • Electronic music production and recording
  • Music business management  
  • Technical knowledge
• Provide an opportunity for both professional and aspiring women to benefit from the Music In Africa network and its broad range of activities in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
• Provide a solution-based platform in the form of a round table at ACCES with a view to identify challenges, discuss opportunities and lobby for the interests of female practitioners.
• Offer participants the opportunity to benefit from programmes offered by MIAF’s partners.
• Increase access to educational materials.
• Integrate participants in the broader ACCES programme to maximise experience and exposure to the industry.
• Record and present training materials on the www.musicinafrica.net, including but not limited to tutorials, templates and other best-practice materials.
• Communicate women-based themes that support the initiatives and messages of the programme.

MAIN TRAINING ACTIVITIES

1. Training in first country (Ghana): In the first year, participants will be trained on all aspects of stage management by a team of experienced stage managers from 10 to 17 November 2019. The programme will offer robust classroom training as well as practical, hands-on training in which participants will also be given the opportunity to manage various aspects of the ACCES performance programme.
2. Training in second country: The second training iteration will take place at ACCES 2020 when the programme will diversify its course to include music production lessons and training on other music business topics. A round-table platform will also be introduced to coincide with the ACCES programme.
3. Training in third country: The third training iteration will take place at ACCES 2021 in a different country, offering an advanced course.

HOW DO YOU GET INVOLVED? 

As a participant, facilitator or trainer:

• The programme enrolls up to 12 trainees every year.
• All opportunities are advertised publicly on this website, and will be added to this page.
• Please keep checking this page for new calls (below under UPDATES & CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES).

As a partner

• Please contact Claire Metais at claire@musicinafrica.net.

APPLY

The call for applications for 2020 will be announced soon.

The Music In Africa Gender @ Work programme is made possible with the support of the Prince Claus Fund, Siemens Stiftung and Goethe-Institut.