Musicians Without Borders

2026 is the first of three years envisioned in Musicians Without Borders’ current long-term Strategic Plan. In our 2026 Annual Plan, we lay out our specific plans for the first of three years, to achieve the following objectives:

1.Contribute to just, inclusive, peaceful societies: strengthening our long-term programs around the world, building alternatives to war and exclusion with musicians and partner organizations;

2.Build networks of changemakers: expanding our connections, creating new alliances within both the arts and peace and social change sectors;

3.Change the narrative: pushing back, with alternatives to racist, exclusionary, war-mongering rhetoric, telling the stories of how the arts build community and lead to nonviolent social change;

4.Build a movement of solidarity: expanding our base, including new musicians, activists, and supporters, understanding that so many people around the world are looking for reasons to hope and places to act.

Behind these plans is our shared determination to survive and even to grow— whether or not in size or budget, certainly in presence, in clarity of voice, and in effectively playing our part in resisting violence, domination and war. We base our practical planning on our understanding of music’s power to build radical empathy and our years of experience in translating this power into positive, longterm social change for real people.

If our programs cannot stop war, for participants, they are life-changing. And when lives change, communities change, societies change. We build radical empathy through collaborations that transcend borders and defy dehumanization through the shared human language of music.

Read our full Annual Plan here: https://www.musicianswithoutborders.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026-Annual-Plan-1-1-1.pdf

Read our 2025 Impact Report here: https://www.musicianswithoutborders.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Gewaarmerkt-jaarverslag-MWB-2024.pdf

2025 was another tragic year for many and another tough year for those working towards peace. But in spite of the genocides, rearmament, and unending conflicts, we managed to break through the sounds of war and violence to build strength, resilience, and peace through music.

• In North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, we gave 43 music workshops for 552 children, worked in 6 orphanages, and created safety and joy despite the ongoing conflict.  
• In Rwanda, we served 1,300 children and youth with disabilities, worked in 16 care and education centers, and supported 200 young people living with HIV through music in healthcare.
• In the Western Balkans, our project Music Connects brought together 141 young musicians of different ethnic backgrounds, organized over 3,000 music lessons and activities, offered 8 concerts, 40 training sessions, and 29 studio days, and reached 4.4 million people through social media and the press.
• In Palestine, we served 50 children, offered 1,762 music lessons and rehearsals, and offered 46 group sessions with the mothers of our participants.
• In Jordan, we trained 34 music leaders, and offered 45 children weekly music lessons, leading up to performances for family and community members.
• In the Netherlands, we gave 100 music workshops for 958 children and youth in emergency reception centers.
• In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we gave 96 music workshops for 554 children, youth, and adults in refugee centers.

Our achievements this year were only made possible thanks to the generosity of our international community, who stepped up and played their part despite the despair, and supported our work and our vision.

Links:

• See what we achieved in 2025