Aid for Africa: YouTube partners rally to provide relief for famine

As a devastating famine continues to spread across the Horn of Africa, news outlets, nonprofits and musicians are turning to YouTube to raise awareness and funds for the more than 12 million people who are in severe need of food and water. We wanted to share with you an overview of the situation as we’re seeing it on YouTube, as well as several ways you can get involved.

News of the famine
According to the AFP, the Horn of Africa is facing the worst drought in over 60 years and tens of thousands of people have already died as a result. This video from the AFP YouTube channel offers a overview of the situation:



Nonprofits are also using video to share the voices of those afflicted with the world. Here’s a video diary from a World Food Program worker who is stationed in Dadaab, an area in Kenya near the Somali border experiencing the brunt of the crisis:



How you can help
The WFP’s videos currently all feature a direct link you can click to donate to relief efforts. Other organizations like UNICEF and Doctors Without Borders are also producing videos that help explain the extent of suffering caused by the famine.

Global nonprofit Save the Children has even teamed up with a host of Universal Music Group artists like Lady Gaga, Kanye West and Coldplay to launch the “I’m Gonna Be Your Friend” campaign to help. The featured video on the Bob Marley YouTube channel supports this campaign, and you can donate to the “I’m Gonna Be Your Friend” campaign here.

To stay updated with the latest news on this crisis, visit our CitizenTube channel where we are watching for all of the latest video from this region.

Ramya Raghavan, News and Politics Manager, recently watched “Dadaab: Get There or Die Trying.”

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Street Soccer through Africa and on YouTube

Five years ago, Dutch professional footballer Edgar Davids gathered a talented group of Dutch street soccer players and travelled across Europe, the United States and Latin America to take on the best local teams, on their own streets. After numerous matches in five countries, Edgar and his boys were victorious over their many challengers and claimed the title "The Street Legends." That journey became known as "The Legends Tour."

This year, Edgar Davids and his Street Legends are hitting the road again to see if they’re still worthy of the title...and this time you can watch their journey on YouTube. The team started in Amsterdam before heading on to London and Paris. They've hit Senegal, Kenya, Ghana, and will finally end up in the bustling townships of Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa, where the World Cup festivities will start next week. Along the way, the best local street players from their respective countries will attempt to de-throne Davids and The Street Legends. As they traverse the globe, Edgar will also encounter some of his famous football friends, like Ryan Babel, Michael Essien and Marcel Desailly, all of whom will be showing off their footwork to locals.

In Africa, The Street Legends and Edgar are also embarking on a personal voyage of discovery to understand how street soccer influences people and how it thrives across Europe and Africa every day. Edgar will be visiting grassroots projects providing healthcare, education and hope to thousands of people. Check out some inspiring moments from their visits to Senegal and Kenya:






Subscribe to www.youtube.com/streetsoccertour to see how their exciting journey wraps up!

Anat S. Amir, Head of Marketing, Google Africa, recently watched "#12 Ghana Freestyle."

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HBO/(RED)’s HIV documentary premiering tonight on YouTube

Tonight, at 9.30 p.m. ET, we’re teaming up with (RED) to premiere the documentary “The Lazarus Effect” on the Join(RED) YouTube Channel.

The half-hour documentary, directed by Lance Bangs and executive produced by Spike Jonze, captures a series of powerful testimonials from HIV positive patients. Many of these stories seem like miracles, but they aren’t. They’re made possible through access to two pills a day -- two pills that cost just 40 cents.

“The Lazarus Effect” conveys a message of hope that needs to be heard by the world. That’s why this informative movie will be available globally on YouTube, with closed captions and translated in 52 languages through our automated translation tool.

Remember: for as little as 40 cents a day, we can win the fight against AIDS. We hope you will watch, discuss and share the film via YouTube. And may the experience also inspire you to take action.

Thomas Gayno, Marketing Manager, recently watched “Prague's Kafka International Named Most Alienating Airport.”

UPDATE (5/25/10): Here's the whole film:

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YouTube launches in South Africa

Today a new territory is added to the list of YouTube locations: South Africa. This is the first domain launch on the African continent. For a closer look, head to the bottom of the page, click on the ‘Location’ tab, and select South Africa from the menu:

In practice, this means that South Africa-based channels like Freshlyground and Khayav should enjoy more profile locally, and at the same time should also find it easier to identify other local users. From now on when users in South Africa visit the localized site they will see, for example, the Most Popular and Most Viewed videos in South Africa along with local content that closely matches their interests.

In conjunction with launching our South African domain, we are teaming up with local broadcasters to ensure that YouTube users, wherever they may be, have access to some of the best locally produced content from leading local broadcasters. These include the South African Broadcasting Corporation and e.tv, who have uploaded news content including content about all the soccer fever building up in the country!

In addition, South African journalism schools, such as Rhodes Journalism School and Wits Journalism School, are also using YouTube to showcase aspiring journalists’ talent and highlight news items that are frequently under-reported:



All in all, we are pleased to be officially putting down roots in South Africa and look forward to working with South African users, partners and advertisers to make the YouTube community even bigger, even more diverse and even brighter than it is today.

Divon Lan, Product Manager, Africa, and Brian Truong, Product Manager, recently watched “YouTube Turns Five!” 

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