News from today::
The United Nations has appealed for millions of dollars in aid from donors to tackle an "acute humanitarian crisis" in the West African state of Niger where 2.5 million people, including 800,000 children, are facing famine. "We are having now an acute humanitarian crisis in Niger in which children are dying as we speak," said UN relief coordinator Jan Egeland. He said no statistics were available on the number of deaths so far but noted that 150,000 of the 800,000 children affected were suffering from acute malnutrition and were likely to die soon if untreated. "We could have prevented this and the world community didn't," Mr Egeland, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, said. Malnutrition has hit 3.6 million people over the past year, a third of Niger's 11.5 million population.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=116294®ion=5
2 comments:
Jessie,
In response to your comment on my site, I agree.
My intention with the post on "why I wear a white armband" was to say that live8 doesn't really make a difference.
Without going into it, I would simply say that it is better to do something rather than nothing...it is better to wear a band and have someone ask you about it rather than do nothing at all.
How can we make issues such as the humanitarian crisis in Niger known to the public?
What will make the broader public care??
Steve,
I guess what annoys me about it all is that people (and I'm not saying you, but maybe some dumb celebrities or whoever) might wear the armband and think it is a licence to feel ok about everything. Like that's enough to consider having 'done one's bit'.
Jess.
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