The Weeknd has pledged a $1 million donation to relief efforts in Ethiopia, where an ongoing conflict between the government and Tigray region has resulted in thousands of deaths and over a million displaced people.
Thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed, raped and abused during the course of Ethiopia’s war with the Tigray region of the country.
There have been reports that Ethiopian soldiers executed unarmed men in Tigray, though Ethiopia’s government has dismissed evidence of these claims.
United Nations announced on March 25 that Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Ethiopian Human Rights Commission would launch a joint investigation into possible crimes.
Multi-platinum selling singer, songwriter and record producer announced this via his Twitter page on Sunday amid a five-month-old war in the country.
Born Abel Tesfaye, the Toronto-born son of two Ethiopian immigrants, wrote;
My heart breaks for my people of Ethiopia as innocent civilians ranging from small children to the elderly are being senselessly murdered and entire villages are being displaced out of fear and destruction.
I will be donating $1 million to provide 2 million meals through the United Nations World Food Program and encourage those who can to please give as well.
https://t.co/EBvWQ1TZlM pic.twitter.com/5y8z6HlY1e
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) April 4, 2021
The significant donation, which equates to 2 million meals, will provide lifesaving food to those affected by conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray Region.
Read Also: UN World Food Programme Beats Donald Trump To Win 2020 Nobel Peace Prize
The government estimates that 4.5 million people need emergency food assistance until late this year and has requested United Nations World Food Programme, which was the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, to support 1.4 million of them.
The outbreak of conflict in Tigray last November coincided with the peak harvest period, meaning employment and incomes were lost, markets were disrupted, food prices rose and access to cash and fuel became very difficult.
So far, the humanitarian agency has provided corn, rice and vegetable oil to 60,000 people in towns in the eastern and southern parts of the region.
In addition to delivering emergency food assistance in Tigray, the U.N. World Food Programme has started providing nutrition support for vulnerable pregnant or breastfeeding women as well as children in the region, planning to reach 875,000 people.
The programme has also delivered three rounds of monthly food rations in the two accessible and operational refugee camps in Tigray.
The violence in Ethiopia has been going on since November 2020, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered attacks on the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) after Ahmed alleged that TPLF had attacked a federal military base.
Meanwhile, this isn’t the first time The Weeknd has contributed to a cause as in June 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, the Weeknd donated $1 million in COVID-19 relief.
Read Also: Beirut Explosion Death Toll Rises To 100 And Over 4000 Wounded
Two months later, he donated $300,000 to global Aid for Lebanon campaign last August to help victims of an explosion in Beirut that killed over 200 people.
He also donated $500,000 to racial justice groups: the Black Lives Matter Global Network, Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp and the National Bail Out Collective following the killing of George Floyd.
