Were The Two Versions Of “We Are The World” Meaningful Humanitarian Efforts or Colossal Failures?
Analyzing the impact of The 1985 and 2010 industry-wide charity singles
Did the songs We Are The World (WATW) and We Are The World 25 Haiti (WATW25) substantially help sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti?
Sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti are on fire right now. While the former is experiencing several civil wars across the region, the latter is still politically recovering from the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
While the political and war-themed headlines related to sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti may not reach the eyes of most people in the West, both nations were all over the news in 1985 and 2010, respectively.
Why was that?
At the time, the music industry was blasting WATW and WATW25 across our screens and radios to convince us to donate to help people facing disastrous life-threatening events like famines and earthquakes.
For this piece, I will measure how effective these charity songs were for the causes they were responsible for addressing. More specifically, I will dissect the following four factors for both events:
Cause — Was there a clear cause? Were there clear objectives?
Dollars Donated — How much money did the charity song raise?
Distribution — How was the money distributed? What organization was in charge of distributing materials to victims?
Impact — How many people were supported thanks to the funds raised?
Next, I will talk about the exciting and upcoming 2024 We Are The World NOW (WATWN) initiative. At the end of the piece, I will outline lessons from WATW and WATW25 that project leaders for WATWN should keep in mind when completing their new initiative.
We Are The World (1985): Fighting Famine in Ethiopia and Sudan
Cause
The song raised money for Ethiopians and Sudanese people affected by a regional famine. The money addressed short-term issues like food and shelter and long-term problems like political and economic challenges in sub-Saharan Africa.
Dollars Donated
Since 1985, The United Support of Artists for Africa (USA For Africa) has raised over $60 million for short-term and long-term aid to sub-Saharan Africa.
Distribution
USA For Africa held the money. The organization divided the funds in three ways. The first two splits were for short-term and long-term relief in Africa. This split represented 90% of the total fund. The third pool, and the remaining 10%, was earmarked for domestic hunger and homelessness relief.
For short-term relief, USA For Africa worked with local African organizations to distribute clothing, medicine, and food to citizens in Ethiopia and Sudan. This nonprofit would continue to work with local organizations across Africa in the following years to help them mobilize toward their specific interest areas. These projects included deforestation and water management initiatives in nations like Mauritania and Burkina Faso.
Impact
USA For Africa has never released the exact number of aid recipients. One testimonial that stands out is an Ethiopian man who made a public statement through BBC News after Michael Jackson died in 2009. He wrote about USA For Africa’s cultural and material impact on his town and country through their aid (you could read Elias Kifle Maraim Beyene’s heartfelt testimonial here).
We Are The World Haiti 25: Addressing The Worse Earthquake Haiti Had Faced In Over Two Centuries
Cause
The goal of WATW25 was to help victims of the record-breaking earthquake in Haiti.
Dollar amounts
It is unclear how much money WATW25 raised for this effort. We know that, according to NPR, over $13.5 billion in international humanitarian aid was donated to earthquake relief in Haiti, including $2.2 billion from the United Nations and $500 million from the American Red Cross. Unfortunately, there’s no public information about how much aid money WATW25 raised for Haiti earthquake relief.
Distribution
The We Are The World Foundation was responsible for accepting the proceeds from the 2010 single. Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones founded the foundation specifically for the Haiti mission. Again, there is no We Are The World Foundation site or public information about where the money went.
Impact
The impact of the We Are The World’s funds for Haitians is surprisingly unclear. If related Haiti earthquake relief projects are any indicator, the results are ominous at best.
In 2015, NPR reported that the American Red Cross mismanaged a lot of the funds due to repeated staff changes, language barriers, and bureaucratic delays. In addition, Wyclef Jean’s Yéle Foundation was also accused by the New York Times of corruption and severe misappropriations of Haiti relief funds.
With Wyclef as one of the producers and key drivers of WATW25, it’s safe to assume the funds from WATW25 also didn’t reach the earthquake victims.
We Are The World NOW: A Truly Global Initiative
After the catastrophic misstep in 2010, the We Are The World charity single series is making an ambitious return. Headed by Grammy-Award-winning producer Jeffrey Weber, We Are The World NOW (WATWN) will include over ten countries worldwide.
The project will address world hunger. However, this time around, the response is nation-focused. The organizers of WATWN will allocate the money raised toward state-based hunger charities. For example, China’s single will raise money for a hunger-focused charity in China.
Each country is responsible for developing its production, adapting the music to its language, and recruiting its country’s best artists to partake in the event. Billboard says the final project will be a “live recorded and televised event.”
The countries involved include South Korea, China, Japan, Australia, England, Italy, France, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and one or more African countries.
If done correctly, this magnificently huge event could grab the hearts and minds of millions worldwide for an entire year. While pre-production started in July 2023, the first recording sessions in South Korea won’t start until January 2024. We Are The World NOW is poised to inspire a new generation to fight world hunger meaningfully.
With the advent of social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok, young adults and teenagers are used to sharing cross-cultural perspectives and experiences. While the distribution model is currently unclear, Jeffrey Weber, Clark Germain, and the other organizers are working to make WATWN a grand seismic shift in the music industry’s approach to philanthropy and international relations.
The Future of We Are The World: Lessons Moving Forward
If WATWN is going to be successful, then the organizers will need to take note of the following four lessons from the past:
Have Clear and Realistic Goals
Aiming to raise funds for country-specific hunger charities is a step in the right direction. I would announce a funding goal towards the first round of fundraising. After that, people will have a clear objective to rally behind.
Be Transparent About The Movement Of Funds
Each country needs a website that is easily accessible. If necessary, they should recruit some of the best software developers in the country who work on apps Generation Z uses. Each country’s site should have a tracker that shows the movement of funds from the person donating to the person facing hunger.
Produce Reports
In the years after the initial fundraising period, the organization responsible for distributing the fund should produce We Are The World Annual Reports. These reports should create graphs demonstrating the project’s impact and feature testimonials from recipients of the aid. WATWN organizers should look to the United Nations Development Programme’s informative and eye-catching Annual Reports as a guide.
Adapt To The Times
While it is still unclear who will distribute the WATWN charity funds per country, it is clear that it should be on the latest social media platforms. The funding organization should post clips on TikTok, WeChat, WhatsApp, and Facebook. Their audience is the next generation, so the clips should go to wherever their eyes are.
Final Thoughts
We Are The World was a thoughtful and vital initiative that didn’t amount to its full potential.
For proof, look at Ethiopia and Haiti today. According to the International Rescue Committee, over 28 million people in Ethiopia face food insecurity in 2023.
Furthermore, the earthquake in Haiti still has lingering effects on the island nation years later. For instance, Pro Publica and NPR reported that, five years after the earthquake, only six homes were built from the 130,000 the American Red Cross promised.
Since 2010 the music industry has also lost the willpower to fight global issues collectively. For example, in 2020, Lionel Richie spoke about reimagining a new We Are The World song to combat COVID-19. Instead of mirroring the impressive 1985 and 2010 lineups of years past, he produced a lukewarm American Idol version many quickly forgot.
Hopefully, under new leadership, WATWN’s upcoming national efforts will give the state-based charities the international attention they deserve and the feasible goals they can achieve. Just because WATW and WATW25 failed their missions doesn’t mean the music industry should stop trying.
As long as global issues are ravaging the world, the song’s universal message will remain because it reinforces our responsibility to help one another and choose to save lives no matter where people are suffering.
Thank you for reading :) Do you remember the first time you heard We Are The World? Was it the 1985 or the 2010 version? Did you pay for the single? Let us know below!
This piece was originally posted on my Substack, If Ever You’re Listening.
