Monthly Archives: January 2021

PlayStation 5 launch gets more coverage than 10 humanitarian crises combined

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Humanitarian crises are largely swept aside by other relatively trivial news:
-The launch of PlayStation 5 received 26 times more news attention than 10 humanitarian crises combined in 2020, according to a Care International report.
-The Eurovision song contest and Kanye West’s bid for the US presidency each received 10 times more online news attention than the humanitarian crises in question, the report also found.

The report points to violence and conflict in Burundi, CAR and Mali; hunger and drought in Madagascar and Zambia, and poverty and climate concerns in Malawi. Only one country in Europe – Ukraine – featured on Care’s list, where about 5 million people needed humanitarian aid last year and women hired out their wombs for money. Food insecurity in Guatemala, conflict in Pakistan and hunger and earthquakes in Papua New Guinea also saw these nations make the ranking.

The lack of media coverage adds to existing burdens for these 10 countries in crisis, including the effects of pandemic restrictions and the growing impact of climate change, said Care’s humanitarian advocacy coordinator and UN representative Delphine Pinault.

“Covid-19 has shown us that humanitarian crises can occur anywhere, but for so many people, especially women and girls, Covid-19 is just another threat on top of what they must face already,” said Pinault. “We must not be silent while the world ignores crises that started long before Covid-19 and yet still have not been addressed.”

An estimated 235 million people globally are expected to need humanitarian aid this year, an increase of 40% from 2020, according to data from the UN.

Care is urging governments to allow journalists better access to report “forgotten crisis” stories, and calling on global media to amplify the voices of women and girls and to partner with smaller, more local organizations to pay attention to news on the ground.

“When a crisis doesn’t make headlines, it often doesn’t receive sufficient humanitarian funding, either,” the report warns. “The publication of Care’s neglected crises report is therefore a call to action to the humanitarian and donor community to not turn a blind eye.”

[The Guardian]