NEW YORK
Shakira, the highest-selling Colombian singing artist of all time and
a longtime activist for Latin American’s poor children, plans to make her Colombian children’s foundation a global one in the near future.
Shakira said Barefoot, known as Pies Descalzos in her native Colombia, will start focusing on children worldwide later this year.
“We have a model that works,” Shakira said. “Under less than $2 a day, we can provide a kid with top quality education and the nutrition that they need to be able to function and be able to learn because a kid with an empty stomach cannot learn. So this model… has been so successful in my country, now I want to bring it to other countries in my small way.”
Shakira, who has sold 50 million records, made the comments last week after appearing at Columbia University with Spanish singing sensation Alejandro Sanz and the presidents of Mexico, University Argentina, Paraguay, El Salvador and Panama. The event focused on the importance of education, nutrition and health intervention for Latin American children. The singers asked the presidents to adopt an agreement on combating child poverty during the upcoming Iberoamerican Summit in late October.
The event was sponsored by the Earth Institute at Columbia, led by economist Jeffrey Sachs.
