The Weeknd donates $1M {N470M} to relief efforts in Ethiopia
Written by MAX FM on April 5, 2021
Canadian singer The Weeknd has donated the sum of $1M (N470M) to the relief efforts in Ethiopia. The music star made his donations known via his Instagram page on Sunday, April 4, 2021, as part of relief efforts in Ethiopia, where an ongoing conflict between the government and the Tigray region has resulted in thousands of deaths and over a million displaced people.
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The Weeknd, who was born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye in Canada, is the son of Ethiopian immigrants Makkonen and Samra Tesfaye.
The conflict in Ethiopia began in November after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) captured military bases in the northern Ethiopian region, prompting Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to order a military offensive to oust the group, according to the BBC.
Thousands of civilians have been killed and tens of thousands displaced since the unrest began.
Last month, The New York Times revealed a stark, internal U.S. government report that stated Ethiopian officials and allied militia fighters are “leading a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing” in the Tigray region.
In June 2020, The Weeknd donated $1 million to COVID-19 relief, according to Billboard, with $500,000 going to the charity MusiCares and the other half to front-line hospital workers of the Scarborough Health Network. Earlier that month, the 31-year-old artist also gave $500,000 to nonprofit organizations committed to racial equality.
