Shakira Opens Education Center in Colombia

Shakira announced on Dec. 4 the opening of new education centers in Cartagena, Colombia, made possible through her partnership with Primero lo Primero.

With the partnership, the singer hopes to build 13 new early childhood development centers in a variety of areas in Colombia to serve almost 6,000 children.

According to the singer's website, the Primero lo Primero initiative was launched in 2012 with help from the Mario Santo Domingo Foundation and the Carulla Foundation, as well as the ALAS Foundation and the Barefoot Foundation, which were both founded by Shakira.

"With Primero lo Primero, we begin to realize the dream of guaranteeing the basic nutrition, education, health and early learning for our children in Colombia in the early years of life, the most crucial to their future," the singer said.

The star shared a collage of photos of the new education center on her Instagram account.

"Yesterday with the alliance Primero Lo Primero we opened a new ECD center in Cartagena, Colombia. 425 children will attend this institution and will receive quality education," she captioned the post.

The singer is a huge advocate for the importance of educating children around the world to help them have the best possible futures with the opportunities that education brings.

The singer recently helped rebuild schools in Haiti with the Barefoot Foundation, where she serves as honorary president. She also partnered with Fisher Price to help promote early childhood education. She shared her own experience as a mother and took part in the #UpForSchool petition that featured 10 million signatures of people advocating for equal opportunity learning for the 59 million children currently being denied an education around the globe.

Meanwhile, the star and her partner, Gerard Piqué, were some of the celebrities to praise Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan for their announcement that they would be donating 99 percent of their Facebook shares as part of their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, in honor of the birth of their daughter Max.

The initiative helps contribute to educational funding for children in need and promotes equal opportunity for all.

"Your commitment to making the world a better place than you found it, and to empowering everyone to help make that a reality through all the tools you've listed here, education for all being one of them, show that success, when shared, has a multiplier effect," the singer wrote in a letter on Facebook.