UP against stiff competition from various countries around the world, #Resilience 2 Climate Change, a local Hip-hop group asks Rwandans and music lovers to vote for them in this year’s Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund.The group emerged among the finalists for the 2013 Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF), an annual competition organised by the U.S Department of State.More than 681 proposals from 119 countries were submitted but only a few made it to the final stage. The winning projects will be announced in early July.The only proposal that made it from Rwanda was by #Resilience 2 Climate Change, which is an awareness and action campaign that aims at building resilience to climate change by inspiring and educating youth, using Hip-hop music and creating a youth hub of change agents working in communities in Rwanda.The proposal was submitted by Landry Ndriko Mayigane, who is a U.S State Department Alumnus. He is also the founder and president of the Rwanda Youth Alliance for Climate Actions, (YACA), a new established network working to build resilience of youth and for the environment in Rwanda through capacity building and actions for climate change adaptation and socio-entrepreneurship with youth and amongst youth in Rwanda.The choice of Hip-hop is strategic in a way that most youth in Rwanda and across the world identify easily with this type of music. Mayigane said Hip-hop will be utilised as a valuable tool to channel the information amongst youth in Rwanda about climate change and to promote best practices for adaptation.Many local artistes have been contacted to collaborate in the project and produce a quality song and video that will be broadcast nationwide and globally."We are encouraging local Hip-hop artistes to write a song and video on climate change. The video must highlight scenes of Rwandan youth demonstrating behaviors to conserve energy, protect the environment and mitigate climate change,” Mayigane told The New Times."The project includes educating Rwandan youth about the issue of climate change using Hip-hop music, establishing a network of Rwandan youth working on climate change and promoting a local Hip-hop group at the international level,” he added.To vote for#Resilience 2 Climate Change, you must be a U.S State Department International Exchange Alumni and register with U.S Exchange Alumni website here: https://alumni.state.gov/.