Canadian singer and United Nations World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador Abel Tesfaye, known professionally as “The Weeknd”, has donated $2.5m to the people of Gaza as the humanitarian crisis continues in the region. The funds were donated by Tesfaye via his XO Humanitarian Fund and will provide 820 metric tons of food, enough to create 4 million meals for people who are facing crises in Gaza. The UN has said that this amount could feed more than 173,000 Palestinians for up to two weeks.
The move comes in the aftermath of Israel’s war declared on the Gaza Strip, which has led to relentless bombardment by the Israel Defence Force (IDF) from land, sea and air, and the ongoing siege of Gaza and has killed over 14,500 Palestinians, including 6,000 children, since October 7. “This conflict has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe beyond reckoning,” says WFP’s Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe Region, Corinne Fleischer.
The WFP is working continuously to provide aid in Gaza but, according to Fleischer, a major scale-up is needed to address the desperate level of hunger. Abel Tesfaye has been associated with the WFP for more than two years, helping to provide emergency food aid for women and children in Ethiopia. He has also made personal donations of around $1.8m to those in need around the world and established his own fund, the XO Humanitarian Fund.
In 2020, the Weeknd had donated $500,000 to racial justice organisations, and he has vowed to donate to the Palestine cause by contributing $1 from each concert ticket sale from his After Hours Til Dawn Tour next year. The WFP has thanked Abel for his contribution and urged other donors to follow his example to support their efforts. A list of ways to support the humanitarian crisis in Palestine is available on this website.
Gemma Ross, the Assistant Editor of Mixmag is following Abel’s contribution and working as an ambassador with WFP to extend her support
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