红十字会官员称结束阿富汗人道主义危机需要快速行动

Red Cross Official: Fast Action Needed to End Afghan Humanitarian¹ Crisis

A Red Cross official has sharply criticized the continuation of sanctions and freezes in international aid to Afghanistan. The official says the measures are preventing the delivery of basic services to the population.

Dominik Stillhart is the director of operations for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He released a statement Monday about his six-day visit to field hospitals in Afghanistan. He described the suffering he saw of hungry children and the anguish² of their parents.

The United Nations says more than half of Afghanistan's estimated 40 million population is likely to go hungry this winter unless more money is donated. The World Food Program said that fuel costs are up, food prices are rising, fertilizer is more expensive, and all of this feeds into the worsening Afghan crisis.

Stillhart said what makes him most angry about international restrictions³ on Afghanistan is that the suffering of civilians⁴ there is "man-made." The international community is to blame, he says, for its decision to place sanctions on Afghanistan's Taliban leaders.

The return to power of the Islamist Taliban after the withdrawal⁵ of U.S.-led foreign troops caused an economic crisis. Afghan humanitarian needs rose to record levels following the more than 20 years of war and a long, widespread period of dry weather.

The international community has refused to give diplomatic recognition to the Taliban government. Human rights activists⁶ condemn⁷ its treatment of females. The Taliban banned women from most paid employment and restricted education for most females.

Lack of international recognition resulted in a freeze of several billion dollars in yearly foreign assistance to Afghanistan. The U.S. has also blocked the Taliban from $10 billion worth of Afghan money and property. The sanctions have made it very difficult for the Taliban to pay workers or import needed goods.

Stillhart said that recent resolutions from the U.N. and general economic sanctions have caused donors⁸ to reconsider the assistance they provide. That has resulted, he said, in a slowdown of live-saving help to civilians.

On Monday, the ICRC launched an effort to support 18 Afghan medical centers and their 5,100 employees. The aid group is paying for operational costs and providing medical supplies. The ICRC says it plans to continue the effort for six months.

'Creative solutions' needed

Dominik Stillman says the future of medical care and education in Afghanistan are dependent upon international support.

"States must engage with Afghanistan. This is the only way to prevent a total collapse⁹ of essential services like health care and education. Political considerations should not interfere¹⁰ with humanitarian action," Stillhart said.

Experts say Washington and other Western governments have few good choices in dealing¹¹ with Afghanistan. They can either try to work with the Taliban or they can watch the crisis worsen, destroying gains made from 20 years of development efforts.

Stillhart is urging donors to find "creative solutions" to save the lives of millions of Afghans. He told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the economic sanctions "meant to punish those in power in Kabul are instead freezing millions of people across Afghanistan out of the basics they need to survive."

Sanctions on banking¹² services hurt the economy and make it hard to deliver aid, he said.

'Really pitiful' reaction

In October, the group of leading economies known as the G-20 discussed the crisis in Afghanistan. They agreed to look for a way to provide more aid that can be protected from Taliban misuse¹³.

One member, the European Union, announced it would provide $1.15 billion in aid for Afghanistan.

Earlier this month, Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), said aid should reach Afghanistan and the neighboring countries before cold weather sets in. He called the international reaction to the suffering of Afghans "really pitiful."

Words in This Story

sanctions – n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country — usually plural¹⁴

anguish – n. extreme suffering, grief, or pain

engage with – phrasal verb. to give attention to something: to deal with

essential – adj. extremely important and necessary

pitiful – adj. causing feelings of dislike or disgust by not being enough or not being good enough

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 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

6 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》

7 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

8 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》

9 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

10 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

13 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

14 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。