VOA慢速英语2014 美国与非洲首脑峰会聚焦安全与经济

 

AS IT IS 2014-08-03 US-Africa Summit to Focus on Security, Economics 美国与非洲首脑峰会聚焦安全与经济

Top African and American officials – including President Barack Obama – are meeting August fourth through the sixth in Washington, D.C.  They will discuss security, economics and how the U.S. can work more closely with African countries.

Officials are especially interested in meeting the needs of Africa’s young people.  They want the next generation to have health care, education and work possibilities. 

However, some countries do not have the peace and security they need to reach those goals. For example, violence in the Central African Republic and South Sudan has created humanitarian¹ emergencies.  Nigeria and Somalia are fighting Islamist extremists.   

Officials at the conference will discuss how to ensure security across Africa. 

Joseph Siegle is the director of research at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at National Defense² University in Washington, D.C.  He said the national militaries of some countries need to change.

Mr. Siegle said Africa’s police and military are not always very professional.  They may react too strongly to security threats and kill innocent people.  He said, as a result, citizens can lose their trust in the police.  

Officials at the summit will also discuss economic security. On Tuesday, African leaders, U.S. government officials and members of over 200 companies will hold a business meeting.  They will consider ways to improve trade and investment. 

One way is to expand the popular African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA. The act permits about 20 African countries to sell their goods in American markets without paying taxes.

Officials at the summit will also discuss governance in Africa.  But some civil society activists³ want officials to focus more on human rights and democratic reforms. They are unhappy they were not invited to any of the discussions with African leaders. 

Adam Shapiro is a member of the human rights group Front Line Defenders⁴. He said U.S. officials should use human rights and good governance to make this conference different. China, India, Japan and Russia recently held their own investment meetings with African leaders.

“In those summits there was very low expectation from Africa that any kind of issues around governance, or human rights, or transparency, or corruption⁵, would be brought up, at those summits   But when it comes to the United States there is an expectation that these kinds of issues would be on the table.”  

In China’s recent Africa meeting, the Chinese president met individually with African leaders. President Obama does not plan to meet separately with African heads-of-state.  However, he will spend the day Wednesday meeting with African leaders at a special gathering⁶.  In addition, African and business leaders will be able to meet other top U.S. government officials during some of the events.

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。