Betty G
About Betty G
Betty G is one of Africa’s fastest rising music stars, catapulted to stardom following the release of her debut album ‘Manew Fitsum’ and appearances in Coke Studio Africa.
She was announced as Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR on 6th March 2020, saying: “I am humbled and honoured to have been selected to serve refugees which are among the world’s most vulnerable people. I’m fully committed to this noble cause”.
In November 2018, Betty G won in three categories at All African Music Awards, including Album of the Year, Best Female Artist in East Africa and Revelation of the Year. She was nominated ‘best female artist’ by the Soundcity MVP Awards Festival in Nigeria in January 2020.
In her first project with UNHCR in Ethiopia, Betty G visited Gure-Shombola Camp in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region where over 3,000 newly arrived South Sudanese refugees had been sheltered. She met with refugee families, women and girls to learn about the situation in South Sudan and their recent displacement.
In 2018 Betty G visited Eritrean refugee children in Ethiopia's Shire camps, the majority of whom were either unaccompanied or separated from family members. She appealed for more resources for children who lack sufficient psychological support to recover from the trauma of displacement.
Later that year, Betty G visited the Aysaita refugee camp in Ethiopia’s Afar Region and met with representatives of the 15,000 Eritrean refugees hosted there. She discussed challenges with women’s association and self-help groups and recommitted to lend her voice to refugees and stressed the importance of empowerment of refugee women.
In May 2019, Betty visited camps in Melkadida in Ethiopia’s Somali Region where she met with some of the 219,284 Somali refugees and their Ethiopian hosts. The refugees and the Ethiopian hosts live and work together under innovative business schemes that are bringing economic benefits to both communities and helping to strengthen bonds of friendship.
In December 2019, Betty G sang in Oslo at the invitation of the Government of Ethiopia, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts fostering peace with the country's neighbour, Eritrea. She used the occasion to promote through her social media platforms her ongoing engagement with UNHCR.
Betty G has also applauded Ethiopia’s generous asylum policy, adding that she prides herself in being a citizen of a country willing to keep its borders open for those in need.
"I am happy to work alongside UNHCR in raising the voices of refugees in Ethiopia and beyond. I am really touched and deeply inspired by the refugees’ strength to keep moving forward despite the odds”.
