The Weeknd has donated $1 million (£720,000) to hunger relief charities in Ethiopia, where government officials are “leading a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing”, according to an internal U.S. government report given to the New York Times.
Responding to reports of thousands of deaths and more than two million people displaced in the Tigray area of his parents' homeland, the Blinding Lights hitmaker has committed to do what he can to help those affected by the ongoing troubles.
"My heart breaks for my people of Ethiopia as innocent civilians ranging from small children to the elderly are being senselessly murdered and entire villages are being displaced out of fear and destruction," he wrote on his Instagram account.
"I will be donating $1 million to provide 2 million meals through the United Nations World Food Programme and encourage those who can to please give as well," the star went on.
The Weeknd's parents immigrated to Canada from Ethiopia before he was born.
The singer has frequently aided humanitarian causes in the past. In June 2020, he donated $1 million to COVID-19 relief, giving $500,000 (£361,000) each to MusiCares and the front-line hospital workers of Scarborough Health Network in his hometown. Additionally, in the same month, he donated another $500,000 to the racial justice causes Black Lives Matter, National Bailout and Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights camp. He also gifted $300,000 (£217,00) to Global Aid for Lebanon to help those affected by the Beirut explosion in August 2020.