Africa-Press-Ethiopia
The Weeknd is making a hefty donation towards helping those in need in Ethiopia.
The Grammy Award-winning singer announced Sunday that he’s donating $1 million towards relief efforts in Ethiopia amid an ongoing conflict between the government in Addis Ababa and the Tigray region.
“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,” The Weeknd said in an Instagram post.
The Weeknd’s parents immigrated from Ethiopia to Canada before the singer was born.
Since November, the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia has resulted in the deaths of thousands and the displacement of more than two million people, as reported by NPR. In documents obtained by the New York Times, the Ethiopian government is believed to be “leading a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing.”
This is not the first instance of sizeable charity donations by The Weeknd. In June 2020, he donated $1 million to COVID-19 relief and in the same month, donated $500,000 to Black Lives Matter, National Bailout, and Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp. Later that year, The Weeknd donated $300,000 to Lebanon to help those affected by the Beirut explosion.
