Every year Care International do some analysis of news reporting and compile a list of the most under-reported humanitarian crises. I’ve covered the list before, and also in my book, as I think it’s important to come back to on an annual basis.
To qualify for the analysis, Care look at emergency situtations that affect at least a million people. In 2022 there were a total of 47 such crises. Some of them are in war zones, such as Ukraine, Syria or Yemen. There were a series of catastrophic floods in Pakistan, India, Brazil. There were earthquakes and storms. And then there were the stories that didn’t make the news.
In this year’s report, all ten of the least reported humanitarian crises were in Africa:
The least reported story of all was the drought in Angola. The worst dry spell in 40 years has decimated agriculture and livestock numbers. Because the Russian attacks on Ukraine have driven up global food prices, Angola has not been able to buy in supplies to make up the loss. This has left 3.8 million people hungry.
The crisis in Angola was covered by just 1,847 news stories.
By contrast, 217,529 articles were written about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars.
Global news has a blind spot when it comes to Africa. That is nothing new, but in a digitally connected world there are fewer excuses for it than ever.
The Earthbound Report 