The first U.N. appeal for help in
November got almost no response. Another appeal for $16 million in
March got about $1 million. An appeal on May 25 for $30 million only
started receiving major donations after television showed pictures of
Niger's hungry and malnourished.
"This was a desperately needed wake-up call, but the response we
have received so far is encouraging," said Morris. "We can still save
lives."
Oxfam says that years of neglect by rich countries have contributed
directly to the current food crisis in Niger, Mali, Mauritania and
Burkina Faso, said international agency Oxfam today. Oxfam's analysis shows that the four West African countries - some
of the poorest in the world - get only a fraction of the development
aid that countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan receive from rich
donor governments.
Niger, the world's second poorest country, gets $12 per person
per year in aid. By contrast, each Iraqi receives on average $91
per year in aid - over seven times as much. Even countries with
similar levels of poverty such as Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zambia
receive at least three times as much aid as Niger. "If Niger had received the same levels of aid as Iraq, a much
richer country, this crisis may never have happened. Sadly, rich
countries give aid on the basis of news headlines and political
priorities instead of need - millions of people across West Africa
are now paying the price of this bias," said Natasha Kofoworola
Quist, Oxfam's Regional Director for West Africa.
We live in a world of plenty, and yet: 840 million people go hungry each year.
1.2 billion people live on less than $1 a day.
12 million people die each year from a lack of water.
Over 30,000 children under the age of five die each day due to hunger and other preventable causes.
