英闻天下——552 Calls for Legislative Backup for Children's Welfare

　　Data released by the Ministry¹ of Civil Affairs indicate there are at least 150,000 street children across China.

 

　　More than 80 percent of them come from rural areas, and 48 percent have run away from home because of family problems.

 

　　Earlier this year, the ministry came up with a new set of draft rules in a bid to better protect children's welfare.

 

　　Zhang Wenjuan, a child welfare lawyer who has participated in the drafting, says such a regulation will work to glue the scattered² protection programs together.

 

　　"Now, we do have guardianship³ support services, such as compulsory⁵ education, social security benefits for orphans⁷. But there is no comprehensive system to group these services together. Meanwhile, currently we don't have any rules regarding guardianship monitoring. For example, years back in Tianjin, a baby girl suffered a life-threatening birth defect. Her parents gave up medical treatment. Although volunteers managed to get the girl to the hospital, the surgery could not be done without her parents' consent. We need a system which requires the government to step in for a case like this."

 

　　The draft regulation is expected to propose setting up child welfare service centers in counties and villages to ensure families have the best possible service providers to take care of their children.

 

　　However, Zhou Hongyu, vice⁴ director of the Hubei Provincial⁸ Education Department, says mere⁹ regulations are not enough, as policies do not carry the force of law.

 

　　"We have a couple of laws about child welfare, such as the law on the protection of minors¹⁰. But these laws only cover certain segments of child welfare. For example, we have laws to protect and support orphans, but there are children who are not orphans, whose parents can't fulfill¹¹ their duties of guardianship, and their grandparents are too old to take the responsibility. Who should be responsible for bringing up the kids? We need a comprehensive law to put such children under care."

 

　　According to a study by Beijing Normal University, more than 570,000 unsupported children are living in the country, and a large number of them have been wandering the streets.

 

　　Currently, the government pays a monthly subsidy¹² of 600 yuan for each orphan⁶, but the program does not include unsupported children.

 

　　Zhang Wenjuan, the child welfare lawyer, agrees that legislation is an ideal way to identify the obligations of family and government in safeguarding children's welfare.

 

　　"A regulation can work to enable coordination¹³ between different departments such as civil affairs and social security departments via administrative¹⁴ measures, but it cannot require judicial¹⁵ intervention¹⁶ in the case of abuse or negligence¹⁷. The basic causes for pushing children onto the streets lie within the family. If there is a related law, we could set up a monitoring system to either provide support or to intervene. The bottom line is specifying¹⁸ the rights and obligations between the families and the government to safeguard children's wellbeing."

 

　　The proposal for legislation is currently under review at the NPC session.

 

　　The Civil Affairs Ministry has pledged to push for the promulgation¹⁹ of the child welfare regulations.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

3 guardianship   

n. 监护, 保护, 守护

参考例句：

• They had to employ the English language in face of the jealous guardianship of Britain. 他们不得不在英国疑忌重重的监护下使用英文。
• You want Marion to set aside her legal guardianship and give you Honoria. 你要马丽恩放弃她的法定监护人资格，把霍诺丽娅交给你。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

6 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

7 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

8 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

9 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

10 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

12 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

13 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

14 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

15 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

16 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

17 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

18 specifying   

v.指定( specify的现在分词 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性

参考例句：

• When we describe what the action will affect, we are specifying the noun of the sentence. 当描述动作会影响到什么时，我们指定组成句子的名词。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Procurement section only lists opportunistic infection drugs without specifying which drugs. 采购部分只说明有治疗机会性感染的药物，但并没有说明是什么药物。 来自互联网

19 promulgation   

n.颁布

参考例句：

• The new law comes into force from the day of its promulgation. 新法律自公布之日起生效。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Article 118 These Regulations shall come into effect from the day of their promulgation. 第一百一十八条本条例自公布之日起实施。 来自经济法规部分