Global superstar The Weeknd continued to spread awareness Wednesday about a crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where his cultural roots reside. The Toronto singer has not been afraid to throw his wealth at important humanitarian efforts, announcing in April that he donated $1 million to the United Nations World Food Programme to provide meals for displaced Ethiopians while encouraging his followers to do the same.
Abel met on Wednesday with members of USAID, the United States Agency for International Development, who are leading an emergency response to address the crisis in Tigray, Ethiopia, in which 90% of its population are in need of humanitarian assistance. In the post’s caption, he encouraged his followers to spread awareness and donate through the Center for International Disaster Information, which hosts a list of reputable organizations involved in the emergency response.
In the second slide of Abel’s Instagram post, he outlined some pertinent information about the ongoing crisis in Tigray. 5,200,000 million of the region’s population is in need of assistance as at least 2 million people were displaced. There has been a high risk of famine, or the extremely low supply and scarcity of food, in the region without the required humanitarian assistance, which is why Abel repeatedly emphasized the importance of donating.
This is not the first time The Weeknd has shown his philanthropic side, providing assistance through financial means of donations. At the height of last summer’s racial justice protests, he donated an estimated $500,000 to different social justice organizations. In August, he donated $300,000 to the Global Aid for Lebanon campaign for an issue that hit close to home for his XO co-founder and CEO Wassim “Sal” Slaiby.
Check out the post below and read up on the crisis in Tigray.