Khaled

“Because the suffering of any human being diminishes all of us, it’s our responsibility to try to ease that suffering. It is not a matter of titles, but of responsibilities.”

One of the pioneers of world music, rai musician Khaled has gone beyond all geo-political boundaries to become one of the world’s most popular performers, mixing traditional Algerian music with Western rhythms and styles such as soul, rock and reggae to achieve his distinctive sound.

His 1992 hit single “Didi” sold over a million copies worldwide, and his first French-language single, “Aicha”, topped the French charts for months, selling 700 000 copies in France alone and making him a nationwide celebrity and an unofficial ambassador for the country’s Arab minority. Khaled has been celebrated not only for his music, but for his role as a builder of bridges between cultures.

Khaled was appointed FAO Ambassador on 16 October 2003.

In this capacity, he successfully performed in an awareness-raising gala event entirely dedicated to FAO at the Hotel de Russie in Rome in October 2004.