VOA慢速英语--阿富汗人面临饥饿危机和塔利班统治下的其他问题

United Nations food supplies in Afghanistan could run out this month, a UN humanitarian¹ official warned Wednesday.

The situation threatens to add a hunger crisis to the problems facing the country's new Taliban rulers. They are trying to return the country to a peaceful state after many years of war.

Ramiz Alakbarov is the U.N.'s humanitarian chief in Afghanistan. He said that about one third of the country's population of 38 million does not know if they will have a meal every day.

The UN's World Food Program has brought in food and given it to tens of thousands of people in recent weeks. But winter is coming soon and dry weather is continuing. Alakbarov said at least $200 million is needed urgently to be able to continue to feed the Afghans who are at risk.

"By the end of September, the stocks which the World Food Program has in the country will be out," Alakbarov told reporters at an online news conference. "We will not be able to provide those essential food items because we'll be out of stocks."

Earlier, UN officials said that, of the $1.3 billion needed for overall aid efforts, only 39 percent had been received.

The Taliban militant² group seized control of the country ahead of the withdrawal³ of American forces this week. Now, the group must govern a nation that depends heavily on international aid and is facing an economic crisis that is growing.

In addition to the concerns about food supplies, government workers have not been paid in months. The local currency is also losing value. Most of Afghanistan's foreign currency supplies, which are held in other countries, are currently frozen.

Khalid Payenda is Afghanistan's former acting⁴ finance minister. He spoke⁵ about Afghanistan's dangerous economic situation on Wednesday at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Payenda said the Afghan currency has not sharply lost value because money exchanges have been closed. Its value could drop by more than 100 percent, he added.

Part of the disorder⁶ shows the speed at which the Taliban took control of the country. "I did not expect it to be this quickly," Payenda said. "Nobody actually did."

Mohammad Sharif, a shopkeeper in the capital, Kabul, said shops and markets there have supplies, but a major concern is rising food prices.

"If the situation continues like this and there is no government to control the prices, that will cause so many problems for local people," he said.

Many Afghans are worried. They are waiting to see how the Taliban will rule. They were very severe when they held power before their fall in 2001.

But more recently, their leaders have tried to show a more moderate image. Schools have reopened to boys and girls although Taliban officials have said they will study separately. Women are out on the streets wearing Islamic head cloths — as they always have — rather than the long burqas that cover the whole face which the Taliban required in the past.

Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason is Ireland's ambassador to the UN. Ireland is the current president of the United Nations Security Council. Byrne Nason said Wednesday that the most important test for the new Taliban government will be how it treats women and girls.

The problems Taliban rulers have in rebuilding the economy could give Western nations influence. These nations want the Taliban to meet its promise to form an inclusive government and guarantee women's rights. The Taliban said it wants to have good relations with other countries, including the United States.

Bilal Karimi is an official member of the Taliban spokesman's office. He said Wednesday that a team of Turkish and Qatari technicians arrived in Kabul to help restore operations at the city's airport. Alakbarov, the UN humanitarian official, said the United Nations is asking to use the airport so it can bring food and other supplies to the capital.

The Taliban also must deal with the threat of militants⁷ from the Islamic State in Afghanistan group, known as ISIS-K. It took responsibility for last week's bombing at the airport. The Taliban have promised they will not let Afghanistan be used as a base for attacks on other countries.

After the bombing, American officials said air strikes targeted ISIS-K. U.S. President Joe Biden said they would continue.

U.S. Army General Mark Milley is chairman of the Joint⁸ Chiefs of Staff. Milley said Wednesday it was "possible" that the U.S. will have to work in agreement with the Taliban on any counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan in the future.

Words in This Story

stock – n. a supply of something that is available for use

burqa – n. a long piece of clothing that covers the face and body and that is worn by some Muslim women in public places

essential –adj. extremely important and necessary

item –n. an individual thing

currency –n. the money that a country uses; a specific kind of money

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 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

3 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。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

7 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。