DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Annan Seeks New Head of U.N. Refugee Ag

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Annan Seeks New Head of U.N. Refugee Agency
By Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, February 28, 2005

The secretary-general had decided² not to take action last summer after a U.N. investigation³. He says he had received legal advice that the accusations⁴ could not be proven. Mister Annan now says the continuing dispute had "made the high commissioner's position impossible." But he says his acceptance of the resignation does not mean that Mister Lubbers is guilty.

Mister Lubbers completed more than four years of a five-year term as head of the refugee agency.

Mister Annan recently appointed Mark Malloch Brown as his top aide. Mister Malloch Brown headed the U.N. Development Program. The new chief of staff is seen as more aggressive than Mister Annan. U.N. diplomats⁵ told The Associated Press that he was the one who first informed Ruud Lubbers that Mister Annan wanted him to leave.

The United Nations has struggled recently to improve its public image. The U.N. has been criticized for failing to supervise the oil-for-food program in Iraq. And U.N. peacekeepers have been accused of sex crimes against Congolese women and children.

Last week, writing in the Wall Street Journal, the secretary-general argued that the U.N. remains⁶ important to humanity. He offered examples of efforts to help people around the world. One was the U.N. reaction to the tragedy from the tsunami⁷ waves in the Indian Ocean in December.

World leaders are to consider reforms for the United Nations when they meet in New York in September. Mister Annan says he will have proposals for, in his words, "making the U.N. work better, and the world fairer and safer."

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. I'm Gwen Outen.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

5 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。