NGOs react to influencers' actions in Africa

[samiaseo75]

NGOs have been harshly criticising these types of attitudes by influencers in Africa these days , insisting that these actions are nothing more than “posturing”. From their privileged position, these celebrities visit countries where they do not interact with the population (other than to take some photos and get likes ). The aim is not to learn about the culture, get involved or volunteer, but to feed their social media feeds and thus increase their number of followers.


Following the controversy generated by the photos of Juanma Castaño and Helena Condis, the director of the NGO The Health Impact, Pablo Sánchez, summed up the negative consequences of lebanon phone number data these acts on Twitter: “The purpose of these trips is personal, not charitable. In addition, those who make these trips reproduce this white savior complex that believes that their presence is necessary to solve the problems when the instability of these countries is what the West causes.”

«Going to a country thousands of miles away for a couple of weeks to “help” the population and learn about their way of life is not volunteering, it’s business ,» said her thread about the actions of some influencers in African countries. « Poverty becomes a tourist attraction and children become ‘something to take photos with.’ The effect it has is devastating ,» she concluded.

Faced with this situation, there are many NGOs and associations that refuse to accept collaborations from celebrities or influencers because "they do not want to reinforce stereotypes", as explained in a report by RTVE. One of them is Doctors Without Borders (MSF) , whose head of Equality and Inclusion Ananda Melo King, explains that they always publish photographs "with the consent of the person" who appears in them and never "if they are in a vulnerable situation".