In June 2003, the first “A Day in the Life of AFRICA” exhibition in Japan opened at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. At a subsequent exhibition of photographs staged at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Olympus Chairman Masatoshi Kishimoto donated the entire proceeds from the Tokyo exhibition to Under-Secretary General Ibrahim Gambari, the Special Adviser on Africa to the Secretary General, for use in AIDS education in Africa. (*1)

These funds were accepted by the United Nations Development Programme, which is responsible for the promotion of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. In 2003 and 2004, brainstorming sessions on the role of Millennium Development Goals in Africa were held in Dakar, Senegal. One of the concepts put forward during these sessions, was that the donation should be used to fund a musical project entitled “We are the Drums.” The aim of this initiative, which was based on a suggestion from African musicians, was to use music to raise the awareness of people throughout Africa. With the assistance of United Nations agencies, 37 musicians from various parts of Africa gathered at the end of 2007 to produce a CD containing 11 tracks.

This album calls on people throughout Africa to work together in a spirit of strong solidarity in the struggle against AIDS, poverty, gender inequality, illiteracy and conflict. The power of music to reach the human heart has been used to promote progress toward the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

All 11 tracks, which are sung in 18 languages, contain strong appeals for change and reform. The first song, “We are the Drums,” calls on all citizens and agencies to work together toward the goal of an “AIDS free generation,” and to join the struggle against poverty and hunger. Another song focuses on the right of all girls to be educated and calls for equal rights and opportunities for females. The musicians use the uniquely powerful rhythms of African ethnic music to sing about these and other issues of real importance to Africa.

The United Nations commemorated World AIDS Day on December 1, 2007 by distributing “We are the Drums” free of charge to television and radio stations in 52 nations across the African continent. On the same date, the CD was also distributed to Chinese media representatives attending the opening ceremony for an Olympus-sponsored exhibition of “A Day in the Life of AFRICA” photographs at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing.

*1 This was an independent initiative by Olympus, in addition to a program providing for the donation of all proceeds from the photographic collection. The titles of dignitaries are stated as they existed at the time of the event in 2003.