85% Of American Voters Unaware Of Hunger Crises In Africa, Middle East, But Most Show Concern When Told Of Situations, IRC Poll Says

The Guardian: Poll reveals 85% of Americans oblivious to hunger in Africa and Middle East
“Less than a fifth of Americans are aware that extreme hunger threatens the lives of 20 million people in Africa and the Middle East, yet the overwhelming majority regard it as the most pressing global issue once they have been told, a poll of U.S. voters has revealed. Research by the International Rescue Committee showed that millennials, loosely defined as young adults born between 1981 and 1997, are the generation most concerned about solving the hunger crisis in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan, and Nigeria…” (Summers, 7/13).

Huffington Post: Most Americans Oblivious To Extreme Hunger Crises Overseas
“…The poll findings support United Nations data showing a trend of ‘public fatigue,’ or a decline in interest, in global hunger crises for the first time in several years. Somalia and South Sudan, in particular, ‘crises which normally command high levels of public attention,’ have declined in internet traffic and searches, the U.N. noted in its 2016 Data and Trends report. The slackening interest comes at a time when the world faces its worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, yet many global powers, including President Donald Trump’s administration in Washington, are fighting to drastically reduce foreign aid…” (Cook, 7/13).

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