12 May 2003
"When Will People Pay Attention?" by Congressman Frank Wolf
(Op-ed column in May 11 Washington Post) (750)
(This column by Frank Wolf, Republican member of the U.S. House of
Representatives from Virginia, was first published May 11 in the
Washington Post. The column is in the public domain. No republication
restrictions.)
(begin byliner)
When Will People Pay Attention?
By Frank Wolf
Another international crisis is quietly escalating in the world today.
But it doesn't involve weapons of mass destruction, despotic leaders,
nuclear arms or even terrorism. It is hunger, and millions of people
in the Horn of Africa -- infants, young children, women and the
elderly -- are at risk of starvation.
This crisis has yet to gain the attention of the world. When it
finally does, I am afraid it will be too late.
Very few media outlets are covering what is happening. When I returned
from the region in early January and tried to get the media to focus
on the situation, one television producer said he wouldn't be
interested in covering the story until hundreds of children were dying
on a daily basis. That's exactly the kind of situation worldwide
attention now would prevent.
When will people pay attention? The media must begin to focus on what
is happening in the Horn of Africa. Hundreds of journalists were
embedded with coalition forces in Iraq, and hundreds more are
scattered throughout the Persian Gulf region. I would be surprised if
more than a dozen American journalists have been to the Horn of Africa
in the past year.
It would be helpful if Hollywood and the music industry also took
notice. News outlets across the country gave more coverage to the
dust-up involving the Baseball Hall of Fame and actors Tim Robbins and
Susan Sarandon than to the crisis in Ethiopia.
A BBC camera crew broke the story of the 1984 famine in Ethiopia. When
the pictures of starving children began to appear on the nightly news
and in newspapers around the globe, the world raced in to help. Rock
stars and other musicians teamed up to raise millions through concerts
and special recordings such as "We Are the World." That money helped
stem the crisis, which cost nearly 1 million lives. The Ethiopian
government is trying to put on its own version of a "Live Aid" concert
this month.
But today, between the coverage of the war and such reality shows as
"Joe Millionaire" and "The Bachelor," getting the networks -- or any
media outlet for that matter -- to focus on the crisis is next to
impossible. While America tries to satisfy its insatiable appetite for
reality shows, the starving people of Africa are today's reality in
the most raw and stark and grim terms.
In 1984, some 8 million people were in need of food aid. This past
January more than 11 million people were struggling for their next
meal. Today the situation is even more distressing. I recently read a
cable from the U.S. ambassador in Ethiopia describing a grimmer
outlook for the coming months than had been expected. Some are now
predicting that 20 million people could soon be at risk. Other health
concerns are beginning to emerge, including an outbreak of measles in
some parts of the country and increasing cases of malaria. Cases of
meningitis also are being reported.
I have asked U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to appoint a special
envoy for hunger to help elevate the crisis in Africa and to deal with
other hunger issues around the world. His response to my request was
less than enthusiastic.
In Matthew 25, we are admonished about the obligation to feed the
hungry. The United States has responded to this crisis with an
enormous amount of compassion. Many countries have the ability to give
more and may just be waiting to be asked. In 2002 the United States
contributed 51 percent of the donations to the U.N. World Food
Program; Europe's combined contribution was 27 percent.
Time and attention must be devoted to mobilizing and coordinating the
resources required. This is a crisis that will require enormous
cooperation among international aid agencies, churches and governments
from every corner of the globe.
The war in Iraq has demanded our attention, but we cannot allow this
silent emergency to grow worse. The lives of millions of women and
children depend on this story's being shared loudly and boldly.
(The writer is a Republican member of the House from Virginia.)
(end byliner)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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