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7-10-2005 Scotsman Focus:Can needy rely on public to give and give again? By Gethin Chamberlain IN a year in which a tsunami killed an estimated 250,000 people in an area stretching from Indonesia to the shores of east Africa, a hurricane virtually destroyed New Orleans and famine rampaged across Niger and the Sahel, the generosity of public and private aid-donors has been stretched to the limits. Millions of people gave money to the tsunami appeal and when pictures appeared of children starving in Niger and the Disasters Emergency Committee launched a fresh appeal, they dipped into their pockets again. Now, as the year draws to an end, a new crisis is looming in southern Africa. The question is, will donors respond again, or will those facing starvation in Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe suffer further as a result of compassion fatigue? The answer to that question is not yet clear, but the signs are hardly encouraging. An estimated GBP 225 million is needed to provide food aid, but so far there remains a shortfall of about GBP 102 million. A flash appeal by the UN for GBP 50 million in urgent aid has been met with indifference, with the UK's GBP 5 million donation amounting to a third of the GBP 15 million donated to what is by definition an emergency appeal. According to Mike Sackett, the World Food Programme's regional director for southern Africa, the agency is short of GBP 86 million for programmes in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is at its worst in Malawi. "Our window of opportunity to help Malawi and the rest of the region is closing fast," he said yesterday. "It can take up to four months to get food to those who need it, so cash and food donations must be given now if we are to reach the neediest in time. It will be too late once emaciated images appear on television screens." But it seems that only the appearance of such pictures, on television or on the pages of the newspapers, can trigger the necessary response. Even then, some wonder whether there is a limit to how many disasters the public will respond to. Africa's plight has been high on the global agenda since world leaders agreed in July to a massive increase in aid to the continent, plus deals to eliminate crippling debt for some of its worst-off nations. But aid agencies fear people in the developed world may be tired of TV pictures of poor and hungry Africans. "We're worried that people are turning off to this," said one aid worker. Malcolm Fleming, for Oxfam Scotland, said he was concerned that so many demands on funds would hinder attempts to raise money for a new crisis. "There have been competing demands for funds and the international community has a history of not responding adequately to disasters," he said. He believes there needs to be a groundswell of public concern before governments feel compelled to act. "The reality is that governments respond when the public start raising questions. "With the tsunami, governments only started putting in money when the public started demanding a response. "Even when the politicians say they will donate, they often don't follow through once the spotlight has moved on." He is not alone in doubting the automatic altruism of politicians. "If the cameras get rolling and the networks run the tapes, the public can be galvanised to respond and to put pressure on governments," said John Stremlau, head of Witwatersrand University's international relations department. The evidence of the past suggests that once the public becomes aware of the extent of a crisis, it will retain interest long enough to ensure that its worst ravages are tackled. What the agencies involved in southern Africa this year will be hoping is that the public puts compassion fatigue on hold for a little while longer and takes an interest sooner, rather than later. As Mike Huggins, regional spokesman for the United Nations World Food Programme, explained, timing is crucial. "Governments make available food and cash when the situation has already deteriorated and in some cases it's too late for some people," he said. Some governments want to send food, which takes too long to move through the system: cash is what is needed to enable food to be purchased locally or regionally. Niger demonstrated what happens when aid only floods in at the last minute. Then, as now, the UN launched a flash appeal. It went out on 19 May, calling for GBP 9.1 million. Two months later, when the BBC's pictures woke up the majority who were still unaware of the growing crisis, a mere GBP 2 million had been raised. By then, however, the situation had deteriorated and it was not GBP 9.1 million that was needed: instead, the bill was soaring to GBP 46 million. For southern Africa, Oxfam and the other aid agencies already have their own appeals for cash up and running. Now they must wait to see how soon the fickle media spotlight will fall on the region. The BBC is already there, as it was in Niger, its excellent Africa correspondents again at the forefront of the coverage of this new crisis. It remains to be seen whether others will follow. Some will argue that there has been enough misery already on television screens and in newspapers this year, and will question whether there is really an appetite for more.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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