Shakira pledges $45m in aid to Latin America
Move over Angelina, sexy Colombian pop star Shakira is your new philanthropic soul sister.

Oct 8th | archive | subscribe

Shakira pledged $45m during last weeks Clinton Global Initiative summit on climate change held in New York. Forty million will go to Nicaragua and Peru to address recent natural disasters there, and an additional $5 million will go to educational projects benefiting children across Latin America.

Through the Latin America for Solidarity Foundation (ALAS) - which she co-founded with Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, she will donate $40 mill to repair damage caused by an earthquake in Peru and a hurricane in Nicaragua.

“I’ve seen first-hand many of the challenges facing Latin America,” she said in a statement. “These are challenging problems that no one person can address, but working together everyone can help make a difference.”

The two-time Grammy Award-winner also announced that she will spearhead a three-year, $5 million commitment for projects for children in the region, where about 40 percent of the population lives in poverty.

"I believe that some of these issues need a vehicle, a bridge that brings people together and that somehow can affect directly and touch directly our generation." Said the philanthropist.

Shaira plans to hold five concerts, starting next year, to collect funds for the foundation. Other musicians supporting the effort include Ruben Blades, Juanes, Ricky Martin, the rock group Mana, Aleks Syntek, David Bisbal and Alejandro Sanz. fundacionalas.org