2007年VOA标准英语-Some West African Countries Hope for Better Ran

By Phuong Tran and Naomi Schwarz
Dakar, Senegal and Ende, Mali
09 January 2007

Woman and child take part in a discussion at a village meeting in village of Bandiagara, Mali (File photo)

Some of the lowest-ranking countries on the United Nations' Human Development Index are located in West and Central Africa. The index has exposed the challenge of accurate data keeping in some of the world's poorest countries, as well as these countries' collective pride and competitive spirit. Phuong Tran and Naomi Schwarz report from Dakar and Ende, Mali, on these countries' hopes for their 2007 ranks.

Villagers from Ende and other nearby villages in Mali attend this medical workshop on how to stay in good health. A doctor uses a guidebook to explain everything from how to disinfect water to treating mosquito nets.

But despite efforts like this one, which have helped to decrease the West African country's infant mortality rate, Mali still slipped one rank in the United Nations Development Program's Human Development Index, or HDI.

An economist¹ with Mali's Ministry² of Planning and Development, Mamadou Maiga, says his country's rank last year of 175 out of 177 is an insult.

He says that the rank matters to his government because it does not accurately³ reflect the efforts that the Malian government has made in recent years.

Maiga says that the current life expectancy⁴ in Mali is actually 56 years and not 48, as the 2006 report listed, and that life has gotten better in Mali.

Resident Ali Ban Guindo agrees. He is a tour guide in Dogon, one of Mali's most visited areas near the Burkina Faso border.

Guindo says that things have been getting a lot better in the past few years and that people seem to make more money now. He says that, before, everyone walked and, now, with cheaper imports, most people have cars. He says that, without a car, it is impossible to get a girlfriend.

Economist Maiga says that Mali's HDI rank does not capture these changes.

"The people who write this report have not made an effort to really come to the countries they rank, to gather official statistics that are current, to measure the progress that has been made," he said.

One of the report's statisticians, Papa Seck, says that its authors do not personally produce any of the report data. The UNDP collects its information from other U.N. agencies and from the World Bank.

"If the data is not reported to the relevant agencies, then we cannot use it because we do not even have access to national data," noted⁵ Seck. "Some countries just cannot afford data collection. Those are more structural⁶ problems also linked to the level of development."

Even among these poorer countries that share similar development challenges, there is a sense of competition. Economist Maiga explains.

"If you look at the countries that are ranked higher than Mali, those are countries that have been at war for 10 years or more," added Maigo. "It is not possible that they can be ranked ahead of Mali which has known peace, tranquility and has been in the process of making efforts in developing all its sectors⁷."

UNDP statistician Seck cautions against these types of comparisons.

"We are not trying to pit countries against one another. Some do not use the HDI as a tool for progress, as an indicator," commented Seck. "They use it for comparison purposes. It brings in some sort of competition across countries, according to rank and not to progress."

Niger is ranked last on the 2006 index. Its officials have also disputed its rank for similar reasons as Mali.

Its officials pointed⁸ to democratic elections and polio eradication⁹ as two major improvements, which did not advance the country in the rankings. Seck agrees that the index has its limits.

"There are things that are not captured. For instance, democracy, cultural liberty. HDI cannot measure everything," he said.

Seck reminds officials displeased¹⁰ with their rank of the index's original goal.

"Numbers are not everything. Numbers will just give you a sense, but it is what you do with the numbers that will be important at the end of the day," he concluded.

The United Nations Development Program created this index in 1990 as a way to get around the shortcomings of using income as the only measure of quality of life. The index introduced life expectancy and access to knowledge as other criteria¹¹ to capture residents' quality of life.

The United Nations and development agencies fund programs to help some of the lowest-ranking countries build up their data keeping systems. Seck says that this is still a work in progress.

1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

4 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

5 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。

6 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

7 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

10 displeased   

a.不快的

参考例句：

• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。
• He was displeased about the whole affair. 他对整个事情感到很不高兴。

11 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。