IMAGE OF AFRICA PROJECT

In the aftermath of the Ethiopian Famine of 1984 and the global public response it engendered, international agencies and non-government organisations (NGOs) reviewed the media coverage of the crisis. In 1985 the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) proposed a joint project between themselves and European and African NGOs to critically examine information material dealing with Africa during this period. Research was undertaken throughout 1986-87 by the participating groups.

Oxfam was designated as the UK NGO for the project, and a number of significant reports were produced. This section contains original documents detailing the background to the “Image of Africa” project, country reports from France, Germany, Ireland, Mozambique and the UK, and a synthesis of all the African NGO reports. The UK report, in particular, offers a detailed media analysis of the representation of Africa during the time of the Ethiopian famine. We are grateful to Oxfam for making these documents available.

Background and Some Working Hypotheses (1986)…...download

Report of the Planning Meeting, Rome (June 1986) ...download

Report of the Second European Meeting, Rome (November 1986) ...download

Nikki van der Gaag and Cathy Nash, Images of Africa: UK Report (1987)

…download Part 1
…download Part 2
…download Part 3
…download Part 4
…download Part 5

Deutsche Welthungerhilfe, Image of Africa (1986) ...download

France – Comité Français Contra la Faim, Status and Outline of Problems (1986) ...download

People’s Republic of Mozambique, Project ‘Image of Africa …download

Synthesis of the African National Reports (1988)

...download Part 1
...download Part 2

Trocaire, Draft Document on Image of Africa (1986) ...download

 
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