Red Cross Blogs

Could you write about neglected crises?

By Sarah Oughton
May 14, 2009 at 4:52 pm

If you think you could write about neglected crises then what’s stopping you? There’s still time to enter this year’s Guardian International Development Journalism competition. And if you’re good enough to make it to the top 16, you’ll be flown to a developing country and given a new assignment.

Top of my list would be the Congo – you may remember the media attention it received last year following renewed fighting between government troops and the armed opposition in North Kivu. Over 250,000 people fled their homes and the Disasters Emergency Committee launched an appeal.

Yet despite this attention and celebrity support from Ben Affleck, who made a film called Gimme Shelter to raise awareness about the situation, the media spotlight quickly moved on, suffering as it does from ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder).

In today’s Metro, there was a sneeze and you’ll miss it article quoting Oxfam on the ‘untold death and suffering’ among civilians that is currently taking place. And if you want to find out more about the sort of wounds being inflicted on people, read Ken Barrand’s delegate diary.

So your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write about an issue affecting the developing world which isn’t getting the attention it deserves. Ok, don’t tell anyone but here’s a few ideas…

1. Climate change – I’m not saying that climate change doesn’t claim it’s fair share of media attention and the fact that 70 per cent of all natural disasters are weather-related is not breaking news. But the humanitarian impact of climate change is underreported, especially the fact that the most vulnerable people – who are least responsible for climate change – are the ones bearing the brunt of it. We need to start helping these people be better prepared for future disasters.

But how do we get the money to do this? Disasters such as the tsunami, Myanmar cyclone and China earthquake receive huge media attention and it’s easy to raise money for responding to them. But it’s obviously far more challenging to write a headline-grabbing story about a disaster that hasn’t happened. And yet for every pound invested in preparing for a disaster, £4 are saved in terms of emergency response and reconstruction. For more ideas check out our video about preparing for cyclones in Bangladesh.

2. Food crisis – did you know that people in large areas of Kenya and the Horn of Africa are currently facing a humanitarian crisis that requires urgent food assistance? Last year, world food prices hit the headlines, only for the issue to be quickly replaced by the financial crisis. I don’t want to belittle the tough times many people in the UK are now facing, but we also need to get a grip on our perspective. Because of the food price crisis a further 40 million children in developing countries are suffering from the results of chronic malnutrition.

3. Tuberculosis – not many people realize that TB is the leading cause of death among curable infectious

diseases. The Red Cross believes in fighting TB through community, but there is very little media coverage on the issue and this is one reason for a lack of awareness around the disease, leading to stigma and discrimination.

Ok, so now it’s up to you to get investigating and come up with some creative ways to get these issues out there.

© Reuters/Finbarr O’Reilly

© Jenny Matthews/BRC

© Natasha Rassoha/BRC

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Tags: Ben Affleck, climate change, Congo, food crisis, Guardian, TB

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