Shakira and Warren Buffett's son announce rebuilding of schools in Chocó

Shakira announced on Monday that she will mobilise funds to rebuild the Technological University of Chocó, damaged by the earthquake that struck Colombia on 10 August, as well as around ten non-university educational centres in one of the five departments most affected by the quake.

The Barranquilla-born star's donation will not be made directly. The philanthropic organisation Global Citizen will contribute 500,000 dollars (432,250 euros), and the concert promoter Live Nation, which ran her latest tour, "Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran", and is also her commercial partner, will give another 500,000 at her initiative.

In October 2025 Shakira joined the advisory board of the education fund that FIFA runs together with Global Citizen, alongside Serena Williams, The Weeknd and FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who has come under fire. This came months before her participation as an artist in the recent 2026 football World Cup was announced. The Barranquilla singer says she has allocated 100% of the royalties generated by the tournament's official song, "Dai Dai", to that fund.

Shakira will work with Colombian-American philanthropist Howard Graham Buffett, son of tycoon Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in the world thanks to multi-billion-dollar stakes in companies such as Apple, Coca-Cola and American Express.

The billionaire's middle son was granted Colombian citizenship in 2021, under Iván Duque's government, after investing more than 160 million dollars in projects in the Catatumbo region, including rebuilding roads, replacing illegal crops and demining work.

"Howard is going to help us with [the] Barefoot Foundation to build ten new schools in Chocó, that is why it was so important to bring him, that is why it was so important to come today", Shakira told reporters during a visit with Buffett to Quibdó, the capital of Chocó. Buffett's son has been at the helm of Pies Descalzos for two decades, a foundation that has already helped build several educational institutions in Colombia.

The visit comes a week after the earthquake, whose epicentre was in San José del Palmar but affected departments such as Valle del Cauca and Risaralda. So far the quake has left 287 dead, 4,147 injured and 194 missing, according to the latest figures from the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD).

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