2007年VOA标准英语-African Union Summit Begins With Focus on Sudan

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
29 January 2007

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is projected onto a screen as he addresses dignitaries, in Addis Ababa, 29 Jan 2007

Sudan suffered two major blows Monday when it was overlooked for the chairmanship of the African Union and was told by the chief of the United Nations to get serious about ending the conflict in Darfur. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi.

Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was expected to be named chairman of the African Union at the continental¹ body's summit.

But in his opening speech, African Union commission chief Alpha Oumar Konare told the gathering² that Sudanese government and rebel forces should, in his words, "stop the bombardments and massacres³" of civilians⁴ in Darfur.

African Union officials subsequently announced that Ghanaian President John Kufuor was chosen to chair the African Union.

And when U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon addressed the 53-member body the Darfur situation got even more attention. He pressed for approval of U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur.

"The partnership⁵ between the African Union and the United Nations is of central importance; we must persuade non-signatories to join while building consensus⁶ for the urgent deployment⁷ of a UN-AU force on the ground," he said. "I sincerely hope that we can reach agreement on this vital issue."

Later on Monday, Ban held talks with Sudanese president al-Bashir, urging him to resolve the bloodshed in the Darfur region, primarily by accepting a joint⁸ United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force to come into the volatile⁹ region.

Ban told reporters that al-Bashir agreed to proceed with a joint AU-UN peacekeeping force for Darfur, a move the Sudanese president has been resisting for a long time.

The U.N. estimates that at least 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur since 2003 and millions displaced when rebels rose up to fight what they said was marginalization by the government.

The international community has been pushing the Sudanese government to resolve the situation. The European Union's Commissioner¹⁰ for Development and Humanitarian¹¹ Aid, Louis Michel, was at the summit. He said greater pressure has to be brought against those responsible for violence in Darfur.

"It is really very awful [referring to Darfur], and never before was the situation so difficult, and that's so sad for the moment in Darfur," said Michel. "So we really have to put the pressure on all the people, on all the parties, the rebels, also the Janjaweed, the government, all these people, all the actors have to deliver now."

The African Union summit began Monday in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. Besides Darfur, it is also expected to address the security situation in Somalia and the deployment of peacekeepers there.

1 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 massacres   

大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败

参考例句：

• The time is past for guns and killings and massacres. 动不动就用枪、动不动就杀、大规模屠杀的时代已经过去了。 来自教父部分
• Numberless recent massacres were still vivid in their recollection. 近来那些不可胜数的屠杀，在他们的头脑中记忆犹新。

4 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。

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

7 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

10 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。

11 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。