Yama Laurent

Yama Laurent is a singer and author of Haitian origin and a passionate child rights advocate. 

Following the January 2010 earthquake, Yama worked as a volunteer in UNICEF-supported refugee camps in Haiti. She gratefully remembers the invaluable support that UNICEF provided to her loved ones at this difficult time in their lives.

After pursuing medical studies in Santiago, Dominican Republic for five years, Yama enrolled in the World Championship of Performing Arts, to try to win a scholarship, which would enable her to study further, specializing in cardiology. A visa error prevented her from heading to Los Angeles and Yama came to Quebec and participated in the Tremplin de Dégelis, in the greater Bas-Saint-Laurent region, and won accolades for her talent. At that time, Yama was spotted for yet another singing competition and signed up for it without realizing how large a platform this would be for her career. This was the program La Voix, which she won in 2018, supported by the singer Garou.

After two Quebec-wide tours and having sung in Cuba, Spain and the Dominican Republic, Yama’s musical performances had to be paused due the COVID-19 pandemic. Eager to help make a difference, she worked as Team Leader for Infection Prevention and Control and COVID-19 vaccine administrator in several hospitals and residences.

As a tireless child rights advocate for UNICEF Canada, Yama has been promoting UNICEF's work in education, health and child protection since 2021.