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The hits don't lie: Why Shakira is living proof that pop and politics can mix
The Independent
Nov 21, 2010 - Day three of the Clinton Global Initiative's Annual Meeting, and the lobby of the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers is teeming. Men and women in suits confer in huddles. Clean-cut young workers from NGOs chat with berobed African delegates. The wi-fi-enabled coffee shop is doing brisk business. Avril Lavigne – or someone very like her – strides purposefully towards a conference-room. But the afternoon's biggest, brightest pop star has yet to enter the building. Shakira, we are assured, will be here soon. |
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In a political fix? Call Shakira!
The Independent
Apr 22, 2008 - His poll ratings are tumbling, his MPs rebelling - but Gordon Brown found time last night to engage in telephone diplomacy with Colombia's best-known singer. Jonathan Brown reports on a star that every politician wants to be associated with. |
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Shakira Mebarak
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador |
 “I trust that as time goes by, there will be more and more people who want to help those in need. When that happens, the world will definitely come to know peace.” – Shakira Mebarak
Shakira Mebarak, world-famous singer and songwriter, is a devoted advocate for children. The singer, known professionally as Shakira, was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador on 24 October 2003.
Shakira believes that, as an artist, she has the ability to raise awareness about human rights challenges globally and to spur action against them. “I believe that I have to use the resources provided by my artistic career in order to tell people about real problems in the real world, and I know that I have to contribute to the search for real solutions. I’m sure that our planet will be a better place if each one of us will take responsibility for the needs of others.” |
Shakira is the founder of the Pies Descalzos Foundation, which provides displaced and underprivileged children in her native Colombia with access to quality education. In addition to building projects which ensure that children have safe and well-equipped learning facilities, the foundation supplies nutritious meals; educational enrichment through art, music and recreation; and economic opportunities for families. Shakira also established the Barefoot Foundation, which advocates globally for universal access to education and she is the co-founder of ALAS, a movement of Latin American artists and businesspeople dedicated to early childhood development interventions.
As a Goodwill Ambassador, Shakira has expanded her child advocacy efforts on the global level. Through public service announcements and her participation in fundraisers and other events for UNICEF national committees, she has increased awareness of UNICEF’s work in areas such as HIV/AIDS, education and child protection.
Born in Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira showed promise as a performer at an early age. She recorded her first album in 1991 at age 14. Two years later, she won third place in Chile’s Vina del Mar International Song Festival in 1993.
As her popularity grew worldwide, Shakira was invited to appear on the first Spanish language edition of MTV’s Unplugged in 2001 and won her first Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album based on that performance. In 2006, her album Fijación Oral Vol. 1 Oral, Volume 1, earned the Grammy for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album.
Shakira’s other prizes include several Latin Grammy awards, the 2006 American Music Awards Favorite Latin Artist and the 2007 People’s Choice Awards Favorite Pop Song for Hips Don’t Lie. The singer has had a number of successful musical collaborations and also wrote two songs for the film Love in the Time of Cholera, which is based on the book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
In March 2010, Shakira was honoured by the International Labour Organization (ILO) for her work promoting the advancement of children and youth around the world.
Shakira lives in the Bahamas. |
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A letter from Shakira…
Dear Friends,
I was born in a Latin American country that has been hit particularly hard by injustice and a serious social crisis. I am sure that people often talk about Colombia’s problems, like drug trafficking and the subversive groups, yet there is another problem that affects Colombians even more. It is hard to believe that because of our internal conflict and the escalating violence, three million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes. According to the United Nations, this is the second largest humanitarian crisis of internal displacement in the world, after Sudan. In Colombia, more than two million children are unable to attend school and suffer the psychological stress of the armed conflict.
All I have to do is close my eyes and I can imagine their faces; I know that each child has a name, a heart, a dream; I know that their lives are just as valuable as yours or mine. Yet many of these children die every day in total abandonment.
As a woman, I am constantly asking myself what challenges I might face in my life, and I’m sure that there is more to my life than just selling records. I believe that I have to use the resources provided by my artistic career in order to tell people about real problems in the real world, and I know that I have to contribute to the search for real solutions. I’m sure that our planet will be a better place if each one of us will take responsibility for the needs of others.
The Barefoot Foundation, which I created when I was eighteen years old, is currently implementing a program to help 28,000 victimized children, their families and their community in my country, providing them with nutritious meals as an incentive so that their parents allow them to attend school. By doing this, we help to reduce the number of children ages ten through twelve who are forced to work in the streets, enter prostitution, or join the guerrilla groups and become criminals. No child should be excluded from a quality education.
Despite the many conflicts around the world, I have been fortunate to witness the solidarity that exists in people’s hearts. It is like a flame that burns brightly. I trust that as time goes by, there will be more and more people who want to help those in need. When that happens, the world will definitely come to know peace.
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