Weekend UN concert in Senegal will raise funds to fight malaria with bed nets

With malaria claiming the lives of 3,000 African children a day, three of Africa's most celebrated music stars – Youssou N'Dour and Baaba Maal of Senegal and Khaled of Algeria – will be among those performing this weekend at a concert partly sponsored by United Nations agencies to raise funds for the elimination of the disease.

The organizers, which include the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said they expect a live audience of 40,000 in the Senegalese capital of Dakar, as well as radio listeners, television viewers and eventual purchasers of recordings and DVDs, totalling up to billion worldwide.

"There are many organizations that are actively working to fight malaria, but music can go further. Music can accelerate the rhythm of the movement to fight malaria," said N'Dour, who conceived the idea with documentary film director Mick Csaky of the United Kingdom.

The funds raised are to be used mainly to buy pesticide-treated bed nets.

The star-studded programme also includes Salif Keita and Rokia Traoré of Mali, Manu Dibango of Cameroon and Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Awilo Longomba.