2006年VOA标准英语-UN's Egeland Says Darfur Violence a 'Powder Keg

By Noel King
Khartoum
18 November 2006

United Nations Humanitarian¹ chief, Jan Egeland, has painted a grim picture of life for millions of civilians² in Darfur, following his return from the war-torn region. On Saturday, Egeland appealed to the Sudanese government, armed militias³ and rebel groups to cease fighting.

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Coordinator4 Jan Egeland (L) with Martin Ojul, chairman of LRA negotiating team, in Sudanese town of Juba " src="/upimg/allimg/070509/1348450.jpg" width="210" border="0" /> UN Emergency Coordinator Jan Egeland (L) with Martin Ojul, chairman of LRA negotiating team, in Sudanese town of Juba

Egeland, on his final mission to Darfur, said he was stunned⁵ at the continued level of violence in the embattled region.
 
The U.N. envoy⁶ cut short his trip to Darfur after being told by Sudanese officials that he would be unable to travel to four of six locations on his itinerary⁷, due to insecurity.
 
Egeland's delegation⁸ was confined to the main cities of Geneina and El Fasher.

"I met in Geneina, yesterday, women who were pleading for security, who said, 'we are abused, we are raped⁹, we are attacked and nobody seems to want to protect us.' We are now playing with a powder keg," he noted¹⁰.  "It could get infinitely¹¹ worse for everybody unless everybody pulls back."

Egeland called on the Sudanese government to cease restricting the movement of aid workers, in particular, US citizens who have been prevented from traveling to Darfur and southern Sudan.
 
Observers have charged Sudan with limiting the movement of aid workers in order to hide the severity of the Darfur conflict.
 
Sudan insists the level of violence has been exaggerated by Western nations.

"I have one appeal to the government of Sudan. Help us help your people.  A lot is at stake," added Egeland. "The international community has come here because there is a calling from defenseless civilians in need to help. We frankly¹² feel that there is not an effort to help us help them." 

Egeland said he was optimistic about Thursday's high-level talks in Addis Ababa in which Sudanese representatives told delegates from the U.N. Security Council and African Union that they would agree in principle to a U.N. presence in Darfur. 
 
But Sudan has sent out mixed signals in recent days.
 
Some officials have expressed support for U.N. troops in the region, while others say Sudan will accept only financial and logistical aid from the U.N.
 
For months, Sudan has staunchly resisted the call for U.N. entry into the region, likening a U.N. mission to colonization¹³.
 
The African Union force currently monitoring Darfur has suffered from a lack of funding and a weak mandate¹⁴ that critics charge does not allow it to protect civilians.
 
The AU has only about 7,000 troops in all of Darfur, a region the size of France.
 
The Darfur conflict has taken tens of thousands of lives and led to the displacement¹⁵ of more than two million people.
 
Sudan is charged with arming nomadic¹⁶ Arab tribes to crush a 2003 rebellion by African farmers.
 
Rather than fighting the rebels, militias known as Janjaweed concentrated their attacks on civilians.
 
A May 2006 peace agreement between the government of Sudan and one rebel group has only ignited more violence, as the Sudanese Armed Forces battle holdout rebel factions¹⁷ in Darfur.

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 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。

3 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

4 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

5 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

6 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

7 itinerary   

n.行程表，旅行路线；旅行计划

参考例句：

• The two sides have agreed on the itinerary of the visit.双方商定了访问日程。
• The next place on our itinerary was Silistra.我们行程的下一站是锡利斯特拉。

8 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

9 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 infinitely   

adv.无限地，无穷地

参考例句：

• There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。
• The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。

12 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

13 colonization   

殖民地的开拓，殖民，殖民地化； 移殖

参考例句：

• Colonization took place during the Habsburg dynasty. 开拓殖民地在哈布斯堡王朝就进行过。
• These countries took part in the colonization of Africa. 这些国家参与非洲殖民地的开发。

14 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

15 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

16 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

17 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别