2006年VOA标准英语-UN Food Agency Resumes Work in North Korea

By Luis Ramirez
Beijing
11 May 2006

The U.N.'s World Food Program says North Korea has agreed to let the agency start distributing food in the country again after ordering it to halt operations late last year.

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The World Food Program Director for Asia, Tony Banbury, says he signed a new agreement with North Korea on Wednesday, during a brief visit to Pyongyang. 

Tony Banbury  
  

"The World Food Program will be staying in the D.P.R.K.," he said. "We will continue a food aid program there, assisting approximately 1.9 million very needy², food-insecure families."

In December, the government of Kim Jong Il ordered the WFP to stop its operations, saying it no longer needed outside assistance due a good harvest and increased aid from South Korea. In addition, Pyongyang had announced the revival³ of its long-defunct public distribution system, which observers say gave the Stalinist government fuller control over how food was distributed.

Last week the New York-based group, Human Rights Watch, said the policy is pushing the country into another food crisis. The group cited witnesses in North Korea as saying some families have not received any food rations¹ since as far back as November.

Banbury, who made the announcement for the WFP here in Beijing Thursday, said the Kim government acknowledges that food security "remains⁴ a significant challenge." He says it is not clear how many people have not received their government rations or for how long.

"We don't know what's been happening since December, in these intervening months. We hear anecdotal reports, but we don't have firsthand evidence. In fact, that's one of the reasons why it's so important for WFP to start this operation again and get out into the field to try and do a better assessment⁵ of what is happening," said Banbury. "If people are not getting their rations, and if those rations are their primary source of food, then they're obviously going to be facing some real difficulties. It's our expectation that that's probably happening in some cases."
 

Photo provided by United Nation's World Food Program, shows North Korean children eating lunch at government run nursery  
  
Banbury says North Korea has allowed only ten foreign staffers to resume work in the country, compared to 32 before last December.

The reclusive Communist state has suffered famines and food shortages since the early 1990s when its economy collapsed⁶ due to mismanagement, the loss of Soviet⁷ subsidies⁸, and - to a lesser⁹ degree - weather disasters.

1 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

2 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

3 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

4 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。

5 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。