Singer Shakira was honored Wednesday by the United Nations for her work with impoverished children, as the pop star earned a medal from a U.N. labor agency in a small Switzerland ceremony. Shakira was praised by the U.N. in a Geneva meeting, where U.N. labor chief Juan Somavia called Shakira a "true ambassador for children and young people, for quality education and social justice." The artist has long been an advocate for children in poverty -- her Barefoot foundation helps feed thousands of children in Colombia, the South American country she hails from. The "Whenever, Wherever" and "Hips Don't Lie" singer is also part of the ALAS foundation, which fights for children across Latin America.Shakira has worked with the U.N. in the past as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. Other celebrity ambassadors have included Susan Sarandon, Mia Farrow, Whoopi Goldberg, David Beckham, Jessica Lange, Orlando Bloom and Ricky Martin.