Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2005 7:47:45 GMT -5
The United Nations top aid official has accused the international community of neglecting the food crisis in Niger. Some 150,000 children will die soon without aid, out of 2.5m who need food, said Jan Egeland.
"Niger is the example of a neglected emergency, where early warnings went unheeded," he told the BBC.
The UN's Niger appeal in May initially failed to attract a single pledge. But the government there has also sought to downplay the scale of the crisis.
It has refused demands to distribute free food and has been criticised for not doing more to prepare for the food shortages.
The crisis was widely predicted after last year's poor harvests, following poor rains and locust invasions.
'Too late'
"The world wakes up when we see images on the TV and when we see children dying," Mr Egeland told the BBC's World Today programme.
"We have received more pledges in the past week than we have in six months. But it is too late for some of these children."
Europeans eat ice cream for $10bn a year and Americans spend $35bn on their pets each year
UN's Jan Egeland
Food crisis timeline Aid workers in Niger say that children are dying every day in feeding centres in the south of one of the world's poorest countries, much of which lies in the Sahara desert.
They say that up to a quarter of Niger's 12m people need food aid.
The UN has now received just a third of the $30m it had asked for, Mr Egeland said.
The UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs also said that beyond immediate food aid, the world should help Niger improve its agricultural methods to avoid future food crises - but this programme had received even fewer pledges.
He said the $30m requested for both short - and long-term aid "was nothing".
"Europeans eat ice cream for $10bn a year and Americans spend $35bn on their pets each year."
From BBC.CO.UK
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wash25
Oasis Roadie
Posts: 335
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Post by wash25 on Jul 20, 2005 17:52:25 GMT -5
So is this forum apparently haha.
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Post by Dominic on Jul 20, 2005 18:08:24 GMT -5
was thinkin same think, the media is very selective, real issues are missed for important things like brintey might be broadcasting her birth, fuckin joke
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