New York: Latin pop star Shakira has been named "Humanitarian of the Year" by the People en Español magazine for her work towards providing better health and education to needy children in South America.


The US magazine's next edition, which lists the year's most famous celebrities who have achieved star of the year status, selected the Colombian singer-songwriter for the title because of her charity work with impoverished children through her foundation Pies Descalzos and Latin America in Solidarity (ALAS).

The new edition of the magazine will hit newsstands on Monday.

The "Hips don't lie" singer, whose hip-swivelling dances and catchy ballads have earned her a huge global following and a string of Grammy awards, told the magazine that she learned to have compassion for the needy when she was seven years old and her parents' jewellery store went bankrupt.