Canadian-Ethiopian musician The Weeknd gives WFP $2m for Gaza

The donation will provide vital relief to thousands of Palestinian families struggling with hunger amid the conflict with Israel.

Renowned Canadian-Ethiopian singer Abel Tesfaye, popularly known as The Weeknd, has donated $2 million to the World Food Programme's humanitarian response efforts in Gaza.

The donation from his XO Humanitarian Fund will provide vital relief to thousands of Palestinian families struggling with hunger amid the conflict with Israel.

The WFP released a statement on Monday, stating that the funds will provide over 1,500 metric tonnes of fortified wheat flour, equivalent to more than 18 million loaves of bread, to feed over 157,000 Palestinians for a month.

This donation comes at a critical time, as Gaza is facing famine.

Corinne Fleischer, the WFP's director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, expressed gratitude for Tesfaye's support, stating, “With famine looming in Gaza, Abel's generous support will provide vital relief for thousands of Palestinian families who battle the grip of hunger every day."

Fleischer added, "We are tremendously grateful for his contribution, compassion, and unwavering advocacy for the WFP and the people of Palestine."

This is not Tesfaye's first contribution to the WFP's Gaza response. In December 2023, he donated $2.5 million, equivalent to four million emergency meals, which provided 820 metric tonnes of food parcels to over 173,000 Palestinians for two weeks.

"We are very grateful for Abel’s continued support as the WFP works to respond to the urgent hunger crisis in Gaza,” Barron Segar, the WFP's USA president and chief executive, said in a statement.

“Hunger is a human-made problem, and as such, it is solvable. We have enough food in this world to feed everyone; all we need is the funding and safe access to make it happen. Thanks to Abel’s designation, families and children will receive the food they so desperately need.”

The singer has also asked his fans to donate to the WFP’s efforts in Gaza, where experts say that more than one million displaced Palestinians face dire food shortages six months into the war.

The 34-year-old has 118.4 million followers on his social media platforms (75 million on Instagram, 17 million on Facebook, 17 million on Twitter, and 9.4 million on TikTok).

As a WFP goodwill ambassador since October 2011, Tesfaye has actively supported the WFP's global hunger relief mission through personal donations and the XO Humanitarian Fund.

To date, he, his partners and his fans have raised $6.5 million for the fund, with $4.5 million directed towards Gaza operations. Additionally, he has donated $2 million to support the WFP's emergency food assistance for women and children in Ethiopia.

In an interview in May 2023 with W Magazine, The Weeknd hinted at a potential new direction in his music career, stating, “It's getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close The Weeknd chapter."

He added, "I'll still make music, maybe as Abel, or maybe as The Weeknd, but I still want to kill The Weeknd, and I will, eventually. I'm definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn."