Singer The Weeknd donates $2.5 million to Gaza – I24NEWS

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced on Friday that its ambassador, Canadian singer The Weeknd (birth name Abel Tesfaye), had granted 2.5 million to finance humanitarian aid to the Gazan population.

The organization said the donation – which is equivalent to four million emergency meals – will finance the delivery of 820 tonnes of food parcels that could feed more than 173,000 Palestinians for two weeks. “This conflict has triggered an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. WFP is working around the clock to deliver aid to Gaza, but a significant increase is needed to respond to the desperate level of hunger we are seeing,” said Corinne Fleischer , WFP director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe region, in a statement on the urgency of providing aid to Gaza.

“Our teams need safe and sustainable humanitarian access and continued donor support to reach as many people as possible,” continued Ms. Fleischer. “We thank Abel for his valuable contribution to the Palestinian people. We hope that others will follow Abel’s example and support our efforts,” she added.

Tesfaye was appointed Ambassador in October 2021 and has supported WFP’s global hunger missions with $1.8 million in personal donations to date through his XO Fund. The singer also pledged to donate the equivalent of $1 per concert ticket sold in 2024 during the global leg of his After Hours ’til Dawn stadium tour to the XO Humanitarian Fund. At 33, The Weeknd has sold millions of albums and won multiple accolades. He is also one of the most listened to artists in the world.