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| Image Credit: Shakira / Instagram |
In a video shared across her social platforms, the Colombian superstar detailed how the funding, channeled through the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, will support local organizations already active in the recovery effort. Rather than distributing aid directly, the initiative invites trusted Venezuelan groups to apply for grants aimed at helping displaced students return to classrooms, supporting teachers whose schools were damaged or destroyed, and restoring broader access to learning across affected communities. Shakira also used the moment to appeal to political leaders and international figures to expand their own contributions to the fund, framing education as a cornerstone of long-term recovery rather than an afterthought to emergency relief.
This latest pledge builds on Shakira's deepening relationship with the Global Citizen Education Fund, an initiative tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is being hosted across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. She joined the fund's advisory board months earlier alongside The Weeknd, at which point organizers set an ambitious target of raising $100 million to expand educational access for children in more than 200 countries. Shakira had already pledged all profits from "Dai Dai," her official World Cup anthem, to the same cause, marking her fourth contribution to a FIFA tournament song and her first since 2014. Her connection to the campaign extends beyond music: she is scheduled to headline the inaugural FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show on July 19 at MetLife Stadium, sharing the stage with Madonna and BTS in a performance curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin.
The timing of the donation situates Shakira among a growing number of musicians responding to the crisis in Venezuela. Metallica contributed $100,000 through its All Within My Hands foundation, while Rush released a limited benefit T-shirt with proceeds earmarked for victims. Venezuelan-born artists including Danny Ocean, Lele Pons, Lasso, and Joaquina have used their platforms to organize aid and direct fans toward relief resources, while other public figures have launched parallel fundraising pushes. The scale of the tragedy was underscored further by the loss of all four members of the rising Venezuelan nu-metal band Van Der Dijs, a grim reminder of how deeply the disaster has touched the country's cultural community.
For Shakira, the gesture continues a career-long pattern of pairing artistic success with philanthropic commitment, particularly around education, an area she has championed for decades through her own foundation work in Latin America. As one of the best-selling Latin artists in history and a fixture of global pop culture, her involvement lends significant visibility to the fund's broader $100 million goal, a target organizers say remains far from complete. With the World Cup Final approaching and worldwide attention already fixed on the tournament, the collaboration between Shakira and FIFA aims to convert that spotlight into tangible support for a country still reckoning with the scale of its losses, ensuring that children affected by the earthquakes are not left without a path back to the classroom.
Instagram video by Shakira about this
