The singer will address a summit in El Salvador of Ibero-American leaders, including the presidents of Brazil and her native Colombia, over the need to feed and educate poor children, especially amid a global economic slowdown.
"There are difficult times coming in Latin America. Thousands and thousands of children will die if governments do not organize ways to distribute food during this crisis," Shakira told Reuters.
"I grew up in the developing world and I have witnessed the lack of opportunities that children have to live with," she added, speaking by telephone from Miami.
In a country like mine, when a child is born poor, people die poor. But I'm fascinated by the fact that through education you can transform lives, you can end this cycle of poverty."
Some 35 million children live in poverty in Latin America with little or no access to proper food and education, Shakira said. Investing in a year of primary education can increase a person's adult income by up to 20 percent, she added.
Shakira's hip-swivelling dances and catchy ballads have earned her a huge global following and a string of Grammy awards. She began getting into social issues just a few years into her pop career, starting a Colombian children's charity called the Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet) Foundation in 1997, named after her breakthrough hit album released a year before.
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