VOA慢速英语2016 全球2400万儿童因战乱冲突失学

AS IT IS 2016-01-18 Conflict Puts 24 Million Children Out of School 全球2400万儿童因战乱冲突失学

Nearly 24 million children around the world are unable to attend school because of conflict.

因为动乱，全世界范围内将近2400万儿童不能上学。

That is what UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, said recently. UNICEF officials study 22 countries affected¹ by conflict. The UN agency found that “nearly one in four of the more than 109 million kids of primary and lower secondary school age, who live in conflict zones, are missing out on their education.”

这是联合国儿童基金会（UNICEF）最近宣布的。UNICEF的官员考察了22个受到动乱影响的国家。该机构发现“居住在动乱区域的超过1.09亿该上小学或者初中的孩子里面，每四个人中就有一个人无法得到教育。”

Lisa Bender is an education specialist with UNICEF. She says not only are more children affected by conflict, but conflicts are lasting² longer.

丽萨·班德是UNICEF的一名教育专家。她说不光会有越来越多的孩子受到动乱影响，这些动乱还会持续更长时间。

She adds that children are missing important years for learning.

她补充说，这些孩子正在失去学习的最重要几年。

“(We’re) primarily talking about the key ages between six and 15. So this doesn’t even count children who are missing early learning opportunities. We’re really talking about primary school through lower secondary school: the key years for learning.”

“我们主要讨论6-15岁的关键年龄段。所以这个数据没有把错过早教机会的孩子们计算进去。我们主要讨论的是小学到初中这段时间：这是学习最关键的几年。”

The results, Bender says, are that children are not able to get the skills they need to survive.

班德说，这个结果导致孩子们无法获得生存所需的技能。

“We mean that they won’t have the skills they need to access the job market. They won’t have the basic skills they’ll need to negotiate life. In the country where we have seen children access education in small villages, in Afghanistan, for example, where I visited, these children play a crucial role in negotiating contracts for their parents; being able to understand how to get good prices at the local market. So, we’re talking about daily living skills, as well as the long term skills they need to become the future teachers and doctors and leaders of your country.”

“我们的意思是，他们将无法获得找到工作所需的技能。他们没有生活所需的基本技能。在一些国家我们见过在小村庄里受教育的孩子，比如在我去过的阿富汗，孩子们在他们父母的合同谈判中扮演着重要的角色；他们懂得如何在当地市场中获得好的价钱。所以，我们谈论的是日常生活技能，以及他们需要的长远的技能——他们用来在未来成为教师、医生和国家领袖的技能。”

If children grow up without these skills, Bender says, countries suffer in the long term. Economies and public health could worsen, while girls become more vulnerable to sex abuse.

班德说，如果孩子的成长中没有这些技能，对国家的损害将是长远的。经济和公共健康会更加恶化，女孩们更容易受到性虐待。

Conflicts are fueling huge population movements in some areas, including the Middle East. Syria is the country largely driving Europe’s migrant and refugee crisis.

动乱加剧着包括中东地区在内的一些地区的众多人口流动。叙利亚是大规模加剧欧洲移民和难民危机的国家。

Lisa Bender says Syria once had most of its boys and girls in school. Now, she says, it is difficult to get information on the subject.

丽萨·班德说叙利亚的男童和女童的就学率一度是最高的。她说，现在很难得到这个国家的就学信息了。

“We’ve seen many children in Syria who are now not able to attend school because of the conflict. But there’s been such a huge population movement, as you know, into the surrounding countries. And now the European migrant crisis that it’s hard to say exactly how many of those children are accessing learning opportunities -- if they’re formal or non-formal. We’re doing our best to provide services with many partners for these children, but it’s very hard to get a specific number.”

“我们在叙利亚见过很多因为动乱而不能去上学的孩子。但是你知道，现在有很大规模的人口向周边国家迁移。现在又有了欧洲移民危机，很难说这些孩子中有多少能得到学习的机会——不管这些机会是正式的还是非正式的。我们正在和很多伙伴合作，尽我们最大努力提供教育服务，但是很难得到具体的数据。”

UNICEF says Africa’s newest nation, South Sudan, is at the top of the list of countries where conflict is disrupting education. Over half of its children, 51 percent, are out of school.

UNICEF说，非洲的新国家南苏丹是动乱阻碍教育发展最严重的国家。该国有51%的儿童没有上学，超过了一半。

Niger and Sudan are also near the top of the list. UNICEF says Afghanistan has made progress. But 40 percent of its children are out of school.

尼日尔和苏丹的情况也很严重。UNICEF说阿富汗已经有进步了。但是该国40%的孩子仍然失学。

UNICEF and its partners are calling on donors³ and governments to help make education a major part of humanitarian⁴ efforts in conflict zones.

UNICEF和它的合作伙伴正在号召捐赠者和各国政府伸出援手，使教育成为动乱地区人道主义援助的主要部分。

“We need to shift our attitude from saying we’ll get back to school when things calm down to saying that we can’t afford to let education stop.”

“我们需要转变我们的态度，不能说等到事态稳定之后再回学校上学，而是我们无法承担教育停滞。”

Words in This Story

zones – n. an area that is different from another

crucial – adj. very important

vulnerable – adj. open to attack, harm or damage

access – v. to be able to use or enter

disrupt – v. to prevent the normal progress of an activity

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。