DEVELOPMENT REPORT - New Head of U.N. Refugee Agency Chosen

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

Broadcast: Monday, May 30, 2005

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Development Report.

 
Angonio Guterres 
Antonio Guterres, chosen as the new head of the United Nations refugee agency, is a former prime minister of Portugal. Mister Guterres served from nineteen ninety-six to two thousand two. He resigned after heavy losses by his Socialist² Party in local elections.

Since nineteen ninety-nine, Mister Guterres has been president of the Socialist International. That is an organization of one hundred sixty-six social democratic, socialist and labor³ parties around the world. Since two thousand three, Mister Guterres has also advised the board of directors of one of the largest banks in Portugal.

Last week, Secretary General Kofi Annan nominated him to become the tenth U.N. High Commissioner⁴ for Refugees. Approval is required by the General Assembly in New York. Mister Guterres is to begin a three-year term on June fifteenth.

Antonio Guterres is fifty-six years old. He served in the Portuguese⁵ parliament from nineteen seventy-six to nineteen eighty-three. Two years later he returned to parliament and served for ten more years. During that time he started the Portuguese Refugee Council.

Former Dutch prime minister Ruud Lubbers resigned in February as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Several women had accused him of sexual harassment⁶. Mister Lubbers denied any wrongdoing. In his resignation letter, he said he had felt insulted by the way he was treated. He suggested that media pressure on Mister Annan had played a part.

Wendy Chamberlin has been the acting⁷ head of the U.N. refugee agency. She calls Mister Guterres a "highly respected international statesman with a wealth of experience."

The agency is called the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or U.N.H.C.R. The General Assembly passed a resolution in December of nineteen fifty to establish the office.

The main purpose is to protect the rights and security of refugees. Today, U.N. officials estimate that there are seventeen million refugees and others of concern to the agency, such as asylum⁸ seekers.

The U.N.H.C.R. has six thousand employees in one hundred fifteen countries. The agency has won two Nobel Peace Prizes. And it estimates it has helped more than fifty million people.

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 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

5 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

6 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

7 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。

8 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。