The singer-songwriter, whose real name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, said on Sunday that he will donate $ 1 million to Ethiopian relief efforts through the UN World Food Program.
A recent CNN investigation found that men in Ethiopian army uniforms executed unarmed men in Tigray. A BBC-led investigation also published Thursday confirmed the same massacre at Mahibere Dego, a mountainous area in central Tigray.
On Friday, the Ethiopian government rejected evidence of these claims.
“My heart breaks for my people in Ethiopia when innocent civilians, ranging from small children to the elderly, are senselessly murdered and entire villages are driven out of fear and destruction,” said The Weeknd, whose parents are from Ethiopia, on his Instagram and Twitter accounts.
“I will donate $ 1 million to provide 2 million meals through the United Nations World Food Program and encourage those who can to please give as well.”
Violence in Ethiopia has been ongoing since November, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered attacks on the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) after Ahmed alleged that TPLF attacked a federal military base.
The UN announced on March 25 that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission would launch a joint investigation into possible crimes.
The UN’s World Food Program stated that “the outbreak of the conflict coincided with (Ethiopia’s) peak harvest season, meaning jobs and income were lost, markets were disrupted, food prices soared, and access to cash and fuel became very difficult.” The Ethiopian government estimates that 4.5 million people will need “life-saving” assistance by the end of this year, the UN reported.
This isn’t the first time The Weeknd has contributed to a cause.
The singer donated $ 300,000 to the global Aid for Lebanon campaign last August to help victims of an explosion in Beirut that killed more than 200 people, his manager announced on social media.
After George Floyd’s murder last May, The Weeknd also donated $ 500,000 to racial justice groups: the Black Lives Matter Global Network, Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp, and the National Bail Out Collective.
He also partnered with TikTok on an August 7 live stream that raised more than $ 350,000 for the Equal Justice Initiative by selling limited merchandise.
CNN’s Bethlehem Feleke, Eliza Mackintosh, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Katie Polglase and Nima Elbagir contributed to this report.