Africa who?

• Author: Sarin, Radhika
• Position: Editorial - Minimal Western media coverage on crisis in Africa - Editorial

Since September 11, the world's obsession with the war on terror has pushed many issues of crisis proportion onto the back burner. In particular, social and political upheaval on the continent of Africa has been largely ignored. (There was little mention of it during George Bush's quick trip to Africa in July.) We hear daily media reports of insecurity in Iraq, but very tittle coverage of the challenges facing African nations.

Reports released in June by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) warn that the need for food aid in southern Africa remains substantial despite efforts in 2002 to avert famine. Food production in Zimbabwe has dropped by 50 percent as a result of the debilitating drought and economic and social turmoil, and 5.5 million of the country's people are hungry. And, nearly two decades after the musical fundraiser Live Aid, around 14 million Ethiopians--one fifth of the entire population--win require food aid this year.

By any measure, this is a crisis. So where are the stories? Have the media simply become used to the idea of a starving continent, as suggested by WFP head James Morris? A more depressing thought might be that the epidemic of ignorance surrounding Africa in the Western world has, in fact, hastened that continent's downward spiral. What Africa needs from the international diplomatic community are sustained engagement and a can do attitude. What it gets instead are floundering rescue efforts that usually come too late.

Take the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The conflict in the Congo has raged for five years, causing displacement, economic...