The forgotten famine: Africa's hungry are being ignored - Aid - Brief Article

New Internationalist, May, 2003 by Thalif Deen

'How is it that we routinely accept a level of suffering and hopelessness in Africa that we would never accept in any other part of the world?' asked James Morris, executive director of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) as the UN Security Council held a rare session on the food emergency in Africa on 7 April.

The UN humanitarian operation in Iraq is expected to be the largest in history, surpassing similar emergency food operations in the Horn of Africa last year. Meanwhile, according to UN estimates, about 200 million people in Africa are malnourished, and about 40 million Africans are in even greater peril. The causes include, Morris added, 'a lethal combination' of recurring droughts, failed economic policies, military conflicts, and the widening impact of HIV/AIDS -- all of which 'had damaged the food sector and the capacity of African governments to respond to need'.

According to Bill Fletcher, president of Washington-based TransAfrica Forum, 44 million people in southern Africa have been 'declared virtually dead' since September. 'Yet the world has ignored this.'

'[US President George] Bush has put billions of dollars into an illegal war with Iraq when the real threat to humanity can be evidenced in the horror unfolding in Southern Africa,' said Fletcher. 'Does more need to be said?'

Continuing shortfalls for food emergencies in North Korea and Afghanistan, as well as future demands in Iraq, further darken the outlook for Africa, he added.

In April the United Nations launched a global appeal for $2.2 billion for post-war Iraq, including $1.3 billion for food aid alone. The response was quick, totalling over $1.2 billion, including pledges from the US and Japan.

Morris emphasized that Western donors must not pay for Iraq's humanitarian crisis by shifting funds from other needy regions, including Africa. 'Money for Iraq must be new funds, and not taken from our work in Afghanistan, North Korea and Africa,' he said. Only two countries, he noted, had promised not to do this -- Japan and Germany.

Morris said that chronic hunger is actually on the rise in the developing world, outside of China, while the World Health Organization has announced that hunger remains the world's number one threat to health.