Sami Yusuf dedicated new song to Typhoon survivors in the Philippines
ROME – Multi-million album selling star Sami Yusuf released today a new song dedicated to survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Entitled “Hopes Survives”, the not-for-profit track is the backbone of ‘Live Feed Philippines,’ a campaign in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to encourage donations to support families affected by one of the most powerful storms ever to make landfall.
Available free at his official website (www.samiyusufofficial.com), Hope Survives is Yusuf’s gift to the millions affected by the typhoon and an invitation to his fans and the public to contribute to the cause through WFP.
“Like everyone, my heart hurts when I think of all those who saw their family, friends and neighbours taken away by this deluge and found themselves with nothing but mourning in despair within just a few hours,” Yusuf said. “This song is my tribute to their courage and a call for global solidarity since we all have the power to do something about it.”
Haiyan ripped through the central Philippines on 8 November, leaving behind it a path of death and destruction and millions of people in urgent need of emergency assistance.
Since then, WFP has been reaching out to survivors with food supplies. In the early stages, WFP provided high-energy biscuits, as they are easy to transport, need no cooking and are particularly convenient with children. Rice rations and Plumpy’Doz, a specialized nutrition product, are now also being distributed as part of the overall response.
A month after the typhoon struck, WFP had dispatched over 11,000 metric tons of food including 11,100 tons of rice, 260 tons of high-energy biscuits and 18 tons of specialized nutrition products for children, reaching some 3 million people.
“Emergency food assistance remains a top priority. Protecting children from malnutrition is crucial in the weeks and months ahead and WFP will remain alongside families through the early recover process,” said WFP Philippines Country Director Praveen Agrawal. “We hope Sami’s beautiful call will encourage people to donate and help us help families rebuild their lives and livelihoods.”
Donations can be made online at wfp.org/LiveFeedPhilippines. Each US$75 donated can give a family nutritious food for a month.
Serving as WFP Celebrity Partner since 2011, the British singer and composer, hailed by Time Magazine as “Islam’s biggest Rock Star” and by The Guardian as “The most famous British Muslim in the World,” has provided continuous support to WFP through his “Live Feed” initiative against world hunger.
The video clip of his song “Forgotten Promises”, dedicated to the drought-hit people in the Horn of Africa as part of his ‘Live Feed Africa’ campaign with WFP, has been viewed over 5 million times on YouTube since its launch in 2012. The awarded campaign was developed and rolled out with the support of advertising firm JWT Kuwait.
Yusuf’s regular appeals and recent visit to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan also served as an opportunity to call for sustained support for the families fleeing the conflict in Syria.
Capitalizing on nearly 4 million Facebook fans, a wide network of active followers of all ages and nationalities around the globe and the renewed creative support of JWT Kuwait, Yusuf is again lending his voice and energy to victims of disasters, hoping to build a new chain of solidarity with Live Feed Philippines.
WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.
Last year, WFP reached more than 97 million people in 80 countries with food assistance.
