‘Superstars for flood relief’ is trying to use music to bring much needed international attention to the floods in Pakistan. Musicians from around the world will be re-releasing an old hit, covering or launching a new song and donating the money raised to flood victims. Each musician will choose a nongovernmental organisation or charity of their choice and encourage fans to donate to it and request fans to buy their hit song from iTunes and all proceeds will also go to the charity of their choice.
Rahim Lalani has been working on the initiative for a month and says that the mentioned procedure is completely transparent and all proceeds will be donated directly to the chosen charities. Artists who have already come aboard include Shafqat Amanat Ali, Strings, Raga Boyz and Laal who have named Unicef, UNHCR, Pakistan Red Crescent and Edhi as their respective chosen charity.
“The initiative is being run by a global network of volunteer professionals and it is an internationally focused effort and we are trying to lobby international artists who can bring in aid to Pakistan,” said Lalani. Every effort is being made to try to bring international celebrities on board as, “There are 20 million people suffering in Pakistan and we are trying to emotionally convince the West to help out and the way to do this is to convince them to help out through someone they can trust, like an international star,” said Lalani.
“The international community understands messages through music and we are targeting superstars from all over the world. We want musicians from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India as well as from the West and it would be great to have an international icon like Lady Gaga hold a press conference and say ‘The proceeds from my next song will go towards aiding Pakistan’s flood victims,’” he added.
The floods which ravaged Pakistan have caused unimaginable devastation and continue to do so. “Time is of the essence,” said Lalani. ‘Superstars for flood relief’ wants to ensure that the international community is made aware of the ongoing problems and aims to stir their emotions and inspired them into action. Diseases and infections are bound to spread if preventative measures are not taken and ‘Superstars for flood relief’ aim to “prevent a second disaster of chronic diseases, malnutrition and poverty”.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 23rd, 2010.
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