The World Bank
世界银行
Right cause, wrong battle
正确的起因,错误的斗争
Why the World Bank's focus on gay rights is misguided
为何世界银行对同性恋权利的关注是误入歧途的
JIM KIM, the president of the World Bank, wants it to promote gay rights. He has declared the “fight to eliminate all institutionalised discrimination” to be an “urgent task”. He recently put on hold a $90m loan to Uganda's health sector after its government introduced one of Africa's most draconian anti-gay laws. He has ordered an overhaul of the bank's lending policies to make sure that no loan assists discrimination. At this week's Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, he is convening discussions with gay activists on how best to do so.
世界银行总裁Jim Kim想要提高同性恋的权利。他曾宣称“消除所有制度化歧视的斗争”是一项“紧急的任务。”近日，本该流向乌干达健康部门的一项九千万美元的世行贷款由于乌干达政府引入一项反同性恋法而被Jim Kim搁置，该法律称得上是非洲最苛刻的反同性恋法之一。Jim Kim已经下令对世行所有的贷款政策进行检查，以确保没有支持歧视的贷款出现。在本周于华盛顿召开的春季会议上，他召开了一场讨论，与同性恋积极分子商讨最行之有效的方法。
As an early proponent of gay marriage, this newspaper shares Mr Kim's sentiments. Bigotry is abhorrent and laws that entrench it should be condemned. Uganda's new law, which allows a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for anyone convicted of homosexuality and requires citizens to report anyone suspected of being gay, is particularly awful. Nonetheless, Mr Kim's initiative is misguided. The World Bank is a technocratic development organisation, not a place for political advocacy. Setting up gay rights as a test of its lending decisions is likely to make the bank less effective at what Mr Kim himself has emphasised is its core job: tackling extreme poverty.
作为一个早期的同性恋婚姻支持方，《经济学人》与Kim先生感情一致。世界不允许偏见，维系偏见的法律也应当受到谴责。乌干达的新法不仅允许对同性恋实行终身监禁这一最高刑罚，还要求市民对任何可能的同性恋进行举报，这是尤其可怕的。然而，Kim先生发起的行动还是被误导了。世行是一个技术主导的发展组织而不是用作政治倡议的。设置同性恋权利作为其贷款政策的检测关卡可能会使得世行在消除极端贫困问题的效率上大打折扣，Kim先生曾经强调这是世行的核心任务。
世界银行.jpg
The bank's technocratic approach is a big part of its DNA. Its founding documents prohibit “political activity”, however unpleasant a regime might be. Only “economic considerations” should be relevant to lending decisions. That does not, by itself, preclude it from opposing nasty laws. You can draw a link from fighting bigotry to alleviating poverty. Unfair treatment of groups of people, whether on the basis of gender, race or sexuality, leads to their social exclusion, which in turn is likely to harm economic growth and make it harder to alleviate poverty. By this logic the bank has, rightly, long been pushing for the education of girls. The fight against other forms of discrimination can be justified on the same economic grounds.
世行的技术解决论在该组织的特色中扮演了一个重要的角色。它的创建文献就写明禁止“政治活动”，无论哪个国家有多么不高兴。只有“经济上的考量”应当与贷款决策有关。这本身并不排斥它反对一些龌龊的法律。从反抗偏见到减轻贫困，人人都能看到之间的联系。群体性的不公平待遇，不管是基于性别、种族还是性征，都会导致社会的排斥，这反过来又可能损害经济增长，使得减轻贫困的道路愈加艰难。正是由于这一逻辑关系，世行长期以来正确地推动了女孩教育。对其他形式歧视的抗争也基于同样的经济原理而合乎情理。
A rainbow of reasons
原因一箩筐
But even if it can be justified in principle, Mr Kim's focus on gay rights is likely to be counterproductive in practice, for three reasons. First, it seems capricious. Uganda is hardly the only country with anti-gay laws on the books; nor is it the only one to have recently toughened its anti-gay stance. Almost 80 of the bank's member countries, including most in Africa, have legislation that discriminates against gays. In many places the laws are ignored, but several places, notably Ethiopia and Nigeria, have recently introduced stiffer anti-gay statutes. Uganda's behaviour is odious. But it is not alone.
但是，就算大体上合乎情理，Kim先生对同性恋权利的关注还是有可能在实践中事与愿违。这出于三个原因。第一，问题反复无常。乌干达不是唯一将反同性恋法合法化的国家，也不是近期唯一强调反同性恋立场的国家。包括非洲多数国家在内的近80个世行的成员国都有歧视同性恋的法律。这些法律在很多地方被忽视，但是在有些地方尤其是埃塞俄比亚和尼日尼亚，最近都出台了更严苛的反同性恋法令。乌干达的做法令人不齿，但它不是唯一有如此行为的国家。
Second, the stress on gay rights itself seems arbitrary. Of the many forms of bigotry the bank could battle, it is not clear that anti-gay laws are the most harmful to the poor. The bank lends to plenty of places that discriminate against women under Islamic law. It also lends to countries with laws that discriminate against minorities. The economic impact of these forms of bigotry is far bigger. But if Mr Kim tries to tackle all institutionalised discrimination by withholding lending, he will soon have no customers left.
第二，强调同性恋权利本身看来就很武断。在多种形式的世行可以选择对抗的偏见中，并不清楚反同性恋法对穷人造成的伤害就是最大的。世行为很多在伊斯兰法律下歧视女性的地域提供贷款，它也为存在歧视少数民族法律的国家贷款。这些形式的偏见造成的经济危害更大。然而Kim现实试图通过扣贷款的方式来解决一切制度歧视，他很快就会发现他的客户都所剩无几了。
Third, his approach is likely to backfire. In the short term, it weakens the campaign to lessen poverty. Uganda's loan, designed to support maternal-care clinics, was the equivalent of 20% of its health budget. And it still has a high child-mortality rate. Politically, the pressure from Mr Kim, though winning plaudits in Washington, is having perverse results, where it matters most. Uganda's government declares itself to be standing up against the arrogant imposition of “Western values”. The more the World Bank adds such conditions to its lending, the more African countries will be inclined to seek money elsewhere, not least from the no-questions-asked Chinese.
第三，他的策略可能适得其反。短期来说，它将削弱消除贫困的行动。乌干达的贷款是用来援助当地产科诊所的，它相当于该国卫生预算的20%。现在，乌干达的儿童死亡率还是高居不下。从政治上来说，Kim先生面临的压力正在引发反常的结果。尽管他在华盛顿会议这一举足轻重的场合还是赢得了一片喝彩。乌干达政府声明反对粗鲁傲慢的“西方价值观”的输入。世行对该国的贷款施加的条件越多，有意从其他渠道寻求资金的非洲国家就会越多，它们尤其可能从不问问题的中国寻求帮助。
The uncomfortable truth is that an economic institution like the bank has to pick its battles. There is a limit to how many conditions outsiders can attach to their aid. Its aim is to encourage economic development. Most of the evidence is that the bank is most effective when client countries see it as an economic partner, rather than a boss imposing a Western agenda.
像世界银行这样的经济机构必须选择好战斗方向，这一事实令人不快。外界在援助同时附加的条件是有限度的。世行的目标是推动经济发展。多数证据表明，会员国将世行看作经济伙伴而不是强加西方思想的老大才会让世行更加有效率。
Ironically, at one level, Mr Kim seems to realise that. He is sponsoring a big management reform designed to make the bank better at finding the most promising solutions from around the world to help countries develop faster. Launching a battle for gay rights may salve consciences, but will make it harder to achieve that goal.
很讽刺的是，从一种层面上，Kim先生似乎意识到了这一点：他正在发起一个大型的管理改革，用来使世行在寻找全球范围内帮助国家更快速发展的最有希望的解决方案上做得更好。发起针对同性恋权利的斗争可能会安抚人心，但会使得上述目标的实现变得更加艰难。
1.focus on 集中于,集中研究
Many of these funds only focus on longer dated futures contracts.
这些基金很多只关注期限较长的期货合约。
Do entrepreneurs put enough focus on customer relationships?
创业者给予客户关系的重视足够吗？
2.make sure 确保,确信
Finally, make sure you are living your life.
最后，确定正视自己的生活。
And we all had a tasting because we wanted to make sure people felt okay with that.
而且，我们都尝了尝，想确定所有人都满意。
3.require to 要求
Drain piping may require to be protected against freezing.
泄水管要求有防冻保护措施。
These objects require to be quarantined on the spot.
这些物品需要进行现场检疫。
4.relevant to 有关的
Thus far there are three preliminary stories relevant to the brain.
到现在为止有三个与大脑有关的表述。
And anyway, say employers, appearance is often relevant to the job at hand.
但不管怎样，雇主们说，外表经常与手头上的工作有关。 |