World Music Star Youssou N'Dour Establishes Fund At IntraHealth
29 March, 2006
Grammy Award winning Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour has announced a partnership with North Carolina-based IntraHealth International to promote better health in Africa.
N'Dour revealed the creation of the Youssou N'Dour Fund at the United Nations this evening at the US premiere of the film Africa Live. The film documents the two-day concert by African music superstars staged by N'Dour in Dakar, Senegal, in 2005 to support the Roll Back Malaria campaign.
Through the Fund, N'Dour will continue his work to promote malaria prevention and collaborate with IntraHealth on other projects to improve the health of vulnerable African women and their families.
"I have been blessed with many gifts," said N'Dour. "I want to use my voice and my celebrity to give back to the communities that have supported me. I am making a renewed commitment to use my influence in the fight against illness and poverty in Africa. I believe this is my duty, as it is the duty of all Africans."
Activities supported by the Youssou N'Dour Fund will be implemented by IntraHealth and overseen by IntraHealth President Pape A. Gaye, also a native of Dakar, Senegal. IntraHealth has a long track record in Africa, with regional offices in Dakar and Nairobi, and currently works in 13 African countries. Gaye and N'Dour became acquainted last year and together conceived of the Fund.
"Youssou and I share a vision for bringing better health to people in need," said Gaye. "And I too believe that influential African men and women must make their voices heard. We appreciate the commitment of the Bonos and the Bill Gates' of this world, and Africans also must step up to this responsibility."
To generate resources for the Fund, N'Dour will give concerts and sponsor other events, and will reach out to friends in the entertainment and recording industries to support projects such as:
- Protecting women and newborns from malaria
- Making emergency birth and newborn care more available
- Increasing access to family planning
- Ending female genital cutting
- Reducing gender-related barriers in women's access to health care.
About Youssou N'Dour (http://www.youssou.com)
Named "African Artist of the Century" in 2000 by Folk Roots magazine, Youssou N'Dour has been a major influence in the growing international popularity of African music. Born in Medina, the old center of Dakar, N'Dour's artistic roots lie in the traditional music of the Wolof people. He burst onto the international scene in the 1980s on a concert tour with Peter Gabriel. He has a foundation in Dakar, the Youssou N'Dour Foundation: Youth Network for Development, which will serve as a partner for some of the Youssou N'Dour Fund's activities in Senegal. N'Dour has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 1991.
About IntraHealth
A nongovernmental organization headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, IntraHealth International has served the public health needs of developing countries for over 25 years. Adding to decades of contributions in family planning, maternal mortality prevention and women's health, today IntraHealth also leads in the growing global effort to build human resources for health in poorer nations. Among US-based development organizations, IntraHealth is distinctive in that it is headed by a president who is a citizen of an African nation.