Thursday marked the 10th anniversary of Colombian pop sensation Shakira’s tenure as an ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF on October 24, 2003, Shakira has expressed her belief that as an artist, she holds the power to raise global awareness about human rights challenges and motivate action against them.

“I believe that I have to use the resources provided by my artistic career to tell people about real problems in the real world, and I know that I have to contribute to the search for real solutions. I’m sure that our planet will be a better place if each one of us takes responsibility for the needs of others,” she was quoted as saying on UNICEF’s website.

The beloved Colombian singer expressed gratitude for her experience with the international children’s organization on Twitter, posting in both English and Spanish.

In 1997, Shakira founded her own children’s charity, ‘Pies Descalzos’ or ‘Barefoot,’ which has since provided over 5,000 children with proper schooling in Colombia alone. The organization primarily focuses on building schools in impoverished communities in Latin America. Recently, Shakira collaborated her Pies Descalzos Foundation with T-Mobile to mutually promote her foundation and their mobile phone products.

This week, Shakira joined forces with Colombian pop icon Juanes and former soccer star Carlos Valderrama in Miami to support the charity organization “Give to Colombia,” which provides high-impact grants for projects benefiting vulnerable communities in Colombia. The celebrities signed vintage 100 Colombian peso bills, which were sold for between $200 and $3,000 each. The event raised over $200,000 for Give to Colombia.