[Ideal08]

WASHINGTON POST
When Will People Pay Attention?
By Frank Wolf

Sunday, May 11, 2003; Page B07
Another international crisis is quietly escalating in the world today. But it doesn't involve weapons of mass destruction, despotic leaders, nuclear arms or even terrorism. It is hunger, and millions of people in the Horn of Africa -- infants, young children, women and the elderly -- are at risk of starvation. This crisis has yet to gain the attention of the world. When it finally does, I am afraid it will be too late. Very few media outlets are covering what is happening. When I returned from the region in early January and tried to get the media to focus on the situation, one television producer said he wouldn't be interested in covering the story until hundreds of children were dying on a daily basis. That's exactly the kind of situation worldwide attention now would prevent. When will people pay attention? The media must begin to focus on what is happening in the Horn of Africa. Hundreds of journalists were embedded with coalition forces in Iraq, and hundreds more are scattered throughout the Persian Gulf region. I would be surprised if more than a dozen American journalists have been to the Horn of Africa in the past year. It would be helpful if Hollywood and the music industry also took notice. News outlets across the country gave more coverage to the dust-up involving the Baseball Hall of Fame and actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon than to the crisis in Ethiopia. A BBC camera crew broke the story of the 1984 famine in Ethiopia. When the pictures of starving children began to appear on the nightly news and in newspapers around the globe, the world raced in to help. Rock stars and other musicians teamed up to raise millions through concerts and special recordings such as "We Are the World." That money helped stem the crisis, which cost nearly 1 million lives. The Ethiopian government is trying to put on its own version of a "Live Aid" concert this month. But today, between the coverage of the war and such reality shows as "Joe Millionaire" and "The Bachelor," getting the networks -- or any media outlet for that matter -- to focus on the crisis is next to impossible. While America tries to satisfy its insatiable appetite for reality shows, the starving people of Africa are today's reality in the most raw and stark and grim terms. In 1984, some 8 million people were in need of food aid. This past January more than 11 million people were struggling for their next meal. Today the situation is even more distressing. I recently read a cable from the U.S. ambassador in Ethiopia describing a grimmer outlook for the coming months than had been expected. Some are now predicting that 20 million people could soon be at risk. Other health concerns are beginning to emerge, including an outbreak of measles in some parts of the country and increasing cases of malaria. Cases of meningitis also are being reported. I have asked U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to appoint a special envoy for hunger to help elevate the crisis in Africa and to deal with other hunger issues around the world. His response to my request was less than enthusiastic. In Matthew 25, we are admonished about the obligation to feed the hungry. The United States has responded to this crisis with an enormous amount of compassion. Many countries have the ability to give more and may just be waiting to be asked. In 2002 the United States contributed 51 percent of the donations to the U.N. World Food Program; Europe's combined contribution was 27 percent. Time and attention must be devoted to mobilizing and coordinating the resources required. This is a crisis that will require enormous cooperation among international aid agencies, churches and governments from every corner of the globe. The war in Iraq has demanded our attention, but we cannot allow this silent emergency to grow worse. The lives of millions of women and children depend on this story's being shared loudly and boldly. The writer is a Republican member of the House from Virginia. © 2003 The Washington Post Company