Congratulations Emmanuel Jal: 2018 Havel Prize Laureate!

Huge congratulations to Emmanuel Jal for being selected as one of three laureates of the coveted 2018 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent! 💥💥💥

The Havel Prize is an award established in 2012 by the New York City-based Human Rights Foundation (HRF) recognizing individuals "who engage in creative dissent, exhibiting courage and creativity to challenge injustice and live in truth." Past laureates include Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, Russian punk protest group PussyRiot, North Korean defector Park Sang Hak, and Saudi women’s rights advocate Manal Alsharif منال الشريف.

"Emmanuel Jal is a South Sudanese hip hop artist and a former child soldier of Sudan's brutal civil war that took place between 1983 and 2005. With five critically acclaimed albums, an autobiography, and a documentary to his name, Jal is focused on supporting South Sudanese youth with educational scholarships through his “Survivors of War” program. He founded the charity Gua Africa to work with individuals, families, and communities to help them overcome the effects of war and poverty." - Read more here.

“Emmanuel uses powerful music as a vehicle to spread a message of freedom and hope for a better future in war-torn South Sudan. He inspires people everywhere to stand up for the freedom of others, and in so doing brings people closer together,” said Havel Prize Committee member Garry Kasparov.

Emmanuel will collect the award at the Oslo Freedom Forum on May 30th and use this platform to launch his “Be the Love” campaign as part of the We Want Peace movement. This is huge.

We are so honoured to have Emmanuel share his powerful music with us at Water for Peace 2018. By creating opportunities for youth to pick up freedom and hope instead of guns, Rainmaker stands for the same mission of a better future in war-torn South Sudan.

Let's do it for the resilient people of South Sudan 🇸🇸 Grab your ticket today 👉🏿 www.waterforpeace.ca