Norwegien Dagbladet came out with an article about the documentary that will air this evening. This roughly translates to:

Egeland accused of bluffing about starvation

By Cathrien Slaaen

In the documentary ”Sultbløffen”, former UN aid coordinator Jan Egeland, together with the BBC, are accused of informing the world about a famine in Niger that didn’t exist.

During the summer of 2005, the attention of the world was directed towards the African country Niger, after BBC’s Hilary Andersson’s reports about a growing famine. In the documentary that TV2 will be showing tonight, Jan Egeland is accused of bluffing about the situation.

Reacts strongly

“I was invited by TV2 to watch the documentary, and I saw the beginning. I reacted very strongly on what I believe is a totally wrong portrayal of myself and of facts, which can easily be checked by a number of renowned sources”, says Egeland to Dagbladet.

On Friday, he left the TV2’s office in a fury without having seen the complete film. From what Dagbladet understands, he was so provoked that he threatened TV2 with lawsuits. […]

A flow of aid

In a press conference in 2005, Egeland stated that 1.5 millions of people were starving in Niger and that children had died of starvation. The reason for the famine was that the crops had been destroyed the previous year by famine and locusts. Journalists and aid organisations traveled to this desert country, and money began pouring in to the aid organisations.

In “Dokument 2”, the program interviews a number of sources that claim that the lack of food in Niger was not greater than normal, and that there never were disastrous swarms of locusts in Niger 2004.

The Garvis, a Swedish-Norwegian family, has lived in Niger since 1986 and run a research station that deals with the food situation in the country.

“I have lived there since I was six, and the documentary shows things as they are. Niger is the least developed country, so there are years that are difficult, such as 2005. But let us play with the cards on the table and speak the truth when we are going to help someone. I have yet not met a person who knows anyone who has died of hunger,” says Esther Garvi to Dagbladet.

Jan Egeland however maintains that all information that has been given around the famine are correct. “When TV2 tries to show that I have exaggerated, that would be one hundred percent wrong. I maintain every word. Whether or not MFS (Doctors Without Borders) or the BBC have exaggerated is for them to answer to, says Egeland.

Johanna Sekkenes from MSF says in the documentary that you cannot say that it was a general famine in the country, and that grown ups and teenagers were doing ok. “I find that strange, seeing that MSF sent a delegation to my office in New York, complaining that the UN was doing too little”, says Egeland.

TV2 denies having portrayed Egeland wrongly. “We mean that this documentary of ours shows that the BBC and Jan Egeland were downright wrong. It is only Egeland the reporters of the BBC who continue to claim that it was a famine,” says Per Christian Magnus [one of the three makers of this documentary]. TV 2 renounces that Egeland has been portrayed wrongly.

Threatened

In the documentary, BBC’s Hilary Andersson is harshly criticized for her reports. She herself however maintains that the TV images from the BBC were well founded. From what Dagbladet understands, BBC has tried to stop the documentary. According to TV2, BBC reacted so strongly that they at one point threatened to withdraw permission to use to their archive footage. “They were ready to do what it would take to protect the reputation of the BBC. According to them, Andersson has done a tremendous job, and after a lot of going back and forth, they have sent us a statement where they take stand behind her and demand that we include it in our program”, says the TV2’s head of production Mats Ektvedt to Dagbladet.

Part of the bluff

According to Ektvedt, ”Sultbløffen” is one of the most important documentaries that they have made. “We were part of the bluff ourselves. Organisations, the UN and the media all contribute to the wrongful portray of the famine. Here at TV2, we “dove right into it” and covered this so called famine without questioning it, basing it on the information given by the UN and BBC, but without checking the facts and numbers ourselves,” he says.

Other publications on the same subject:

http://www.nettavisen.no
http://www.p4.no
http://www.abcnyheter.no
http://www.bt.no
http://www.kampanje.com
http://www.nrk.no
http://www.vlt.se
http://www.svd.se
http://www.ha-halden.no
http://www.na24.no