Band Aid stereotypes of Africa are
no longer moving the British public and leaving people on the continent
starving, Oxfam has warned.
The aid agency said the public must
shake-off the portrayals of Africa promoted by the celebrity-driven campaigns
of the 1980s and 2004.
Oxfam stressed the majority of
people have become desensitised to images depicting issues such as hunger,
drought and disease.
 |
| 'Give us your money': Band Aid stars (left to right) George Michael, Bob Geldof, Sting and Simon LeBon |
Over-exposure to negative media and advertising portrayals of Africa and developing countries in other parts of the world was described as 'depressing, manipulative and hopeless' by respondents to a YouGov survey of more than 2,000 people.
Nearly 50 per cent of those polled
said it made them feel that conditions for people living in the developing
world would never improve.
When asked to select what they
thought were the three most pressing problems facing Africa over the next year,
almost half identified hunger.
And although 74 per cent thought it
was ultimately possible to bring an end to hunger in Africa, only one in five
believe they could play an active role in this.
In response, Oxfam is launching a new campaign to try to refocus public support for the cause.
Through the Food for All campaign,
the charity aims to show the continent's potential instead of just its problems
by striking a more optimistic tone.
It comes 18 years after Bob Geldof
and Midge Ure formed super group Band Aid and released Do They Know It's
Christmas? to help tackle famine in Ethiopia. The campaign was revived in 1989
and again in 2004.
Oxfam chief executive, Barbara
Stocking, said: 'Oxfam has led the way in drawing attention to the plight of
Africa's most vulnerable people and we aren't trying to gloss over the problems
that still beset so many of them, particularly levels of malnutrition that
remain stubbornly high.
'But we've come a long way since the 1980s and Band Aid's Do They Know it's Christmas? We need to shrug off the old stereotypes and celebrate the continent's diversity and complexity, which is what we are attempting with this campaign.
'The relentless focus on ongoing
problems at the expense of a more nuanced portrait of the continent, is
obscuring the progress that is being made towards a more secure and prosperous
future.
'If we want people to help fight
hunger we have to give them grounds for hope by showing the potential of
countries across Africa; it's a natural instinct to turn away from suffering
when you feel you can do nothing to alleviate it.'
In another recent Oxfam poll, when
asked to name the first thing that springs to mind when thinking of Africa,
more than half of 1,295 respondents spontaneously mentioned issues relating to
hunger, famine or poverty.
Visit www.oxfam.org.uk/food to learn
more about Oxfam's work on food security or text FOOD to 70066 to donate £5.
Dailymail.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment