In a rather shocking report, if not saddening, published today by international humanitarian agency, Care International, states that Sony’s PlayStation 5 launch received 26 times more news attention than 10 humanitarian crises combined in 2020. Suggesting that the media is failing countries by underreporting humanitarian emergencies, with women suffering most. Alright, journalists or media aside, on an individual capacity, self-reflect on how many times last year you either retweeted or shared any humanitarian crises on any of your social media platform for awareness purposes…well! food for thought.
The humanitarian crises, which included violence in Guatemala, hunger in Madagascar and natural disasters in Papua New Guinea, were largely swept aside by news of Covid-19, global Black Lives Matter protests and more clickbait-friendly events such as the Eurovision song contest and Kanye West’s bid for the US presidency; the latter two each received 10 times more online news attention than the humanitarian crises in question, the report found.
The lack of media coverage adds to existing burdens for the 10 countries in crisis, including the effects of pandemic restrictions and the growing impact of climate change, said Care’s humanitarian advocacy coordinator and UN representative Delphine Pinault.
“Covid-19 has shown us that humanitarian crises can occur anywhere, but for so many people, especially women and girls, Covid-19 is just another threat on top of what they must face already,” said Pinault. “We must not be silent while the world ignores crises that started long before Covid-19 and yet still have not been addressed.”
According to data from the UN, an estimated 235 million people globally are expected to need humanitarian aid this year, an increase of 40% from 2020. Africa was home to six of the 10 most underreported humanitarian crises of 2020, according to Care, with a number of nations – including Burundi, Central African Republic (CAR) and Madagascar – appearing in the list year after year.
The report points to violence and conflict in Burundi, CAR and Mali; hunger and drought in Madagascar and Zambia, and poverty and climate concerns in Malawi. Only one country in Europe – Ukraine – featured on Care’s list, where about 5 million people needed humanitarian aid last year and women hired out their wombs for money. Food insecurity in Guatemala, conflict in Pakistan and hunger and earthquakes in Papua New Guinea also saw these nations make the ranking.
Care is urging governments to allow journalists better access to report “forgotten crisis” stories, and calling on global media to amplify the voices of women and girls and to partner with smaller, more local organisations to pay attention to news on the ground. “When a crisis doesn’t make headlines, it often doesn’t receive sufficient humanitarian funding, either,” the report warns. “The publication of Care’s neglected crises report is therefore a call to action to the humanitarian and donor community to not turn a blind eye.”
