Iona Craig - Full Response - January 18, 2018
Iona Craig's December 12, 2017, story in The Guardian, "Bombed into famine: how Saudi air campaign targets Yemen's food supplies," was selected by voters as the best article in an online poll recognizing exemplary reporting from October 1 to December 31, 2017.The Forum on the Arms Trade asked Ms. Craig about her work. Below is her response in full.
​Question 1: In the nominated article, as well as many others, you make a connection to arms sales while telling a very human story. How well understood do you feel the connection between arms sales and arms use is understood? How important do you feel it is to make that connection?
There is now a greater awareness of the connection between arms sales and conflict in places like Yemen, although it took the best part of two years of war in Yemen to reach that level of awareness. In parallel, there is also now a wider awareness of the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis in the country. What is often not understood is the connection between the two in Yemen. Indeed, countries involved in the sale of arms being used in the Yemen conflict have regularly denied there is a direct link between those arms and mass starvation in the country. This particular piece highlighted the stark reality of the direct connection between arms sales, arms use and the impact on the humanitarian crisis. I hope this reporting therefore helped people to understand the explicit link between arms sales and Yemen's pending mass famine. Food as a weapon of war is usually associated with medieval siege warfare, yet has been a widely used tool in conflicts across the region in recent years. It's therefore incredibly important to make sure there is an understanding of the connection between arms sales and their use in the weaponization of food in a country where 8 million people are facing famine. Countries selling arms are, by that connection, complicit in a planned tactic of mass starvation. As citizens of those countries we are the ones who have the power and responsibility to hold our lawmakers - who authorise arms sales - to account. Yemeni citizens do not have that privilege.
Question 2: The exemplary media poll is meant to recognize good reporting in the field of arms trade, security assistance and weapons use. Do you feel that there is enough public awareness on these topics? (If not, what would be some things that might help the media cover the issues...assuming media would be able to raise that awareness?)
I feel there is an interest in these topics but not always wider public awareness. In addition, there's often a complacent acceptance that the field of arms trade, security assistance and weapons use are just part of how the world works. There is a lot of great reporting on these issues. But, by their nature they are complex and opaque industries, which means reporting on them is often time consuming and thereby expensive for media outlets.​