VOA常速英语2007-UN: Darfur Humanitarian Situation Depends on Pea

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
27 October 2007

A senior United Nations official says the humanitarian¹ situation in Sudan's conflict-ridden province of Darfur is deteriorating².  He says an improvement of the situation is dependent on a political settlement between the Sudanese government and rebel groups.  Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva that U.N.-African Union mediated³ peace talks are scheduled to begin in Sirte, Libya Saturday.

The Darfur peace talks are getting off to a shaky start as all of the main rebel groups have announced they plan to stay away.  Only a few minor⁴ groups that have splintered off the main factions⁵ have said they will attend. 

U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, John Holmes, says he hopes those who have been invited to the talks will attend.  He says the political process is absolutely fundamental toward ending the war.

"I strongly hope that the rebel groups, fragmented though they are, whatever problems they may have will see that this is the best opportunity they are likely to have in the near future to make some political progress and to have their demands addressed in a sensible fashion with international mediation," he said.  "So, I would hope that they will turn up.  If they do not turn up on Saturday, I hope they will, because this is not a one-off opportunity-it will be open to them to join the process at a later stage.  I very much hope they will do that and do that in a fully⁶ representative fashion."

The war between the Sudanese-backed Janjaweed Arab militia⁷ and African rebel groups erupted in 2003.  Since then an estimated 200,000 people have died and more than 2.5 million have been uprooted⁸ from their homes.

Only one rebel group signed a peace deal worked out with the government of Sudan in Abuja, Nigeria in 2006.  The agreement has had little support among the 2 million people living in U.N.-run displacement⁹ camps.  Since then, the main rebel groups have divided into many small competing factions and violence has increased.

Holmes says it is becoming riskier¹⁰ and more difficult for aid agencies to work in Darfur.  Just last week, he notes, three truck drivers delivering food were killed.  He says relief convoys¹¹ and aid workers are regularly attacked by bandits, who hijack¹² and steal vehicles, equipment and goods.

"These security problems, the lack of access that these security problems are causing is beginning to have an impact on the humanitarian situation as well," he added.  "It is particularly worrying, for example, that the most recent surveys in some of the camps have suggested that malnutrition¹³ rates, which had been well under control last year, are now beginning to increase again, which suggests that we are not getting as much aid through as we were doing before."

For all these reasons, U.N. emergency chief Holmes says it is important for the political talks to make progress.  He says aid agencies also are looking forward to the deployment¹⁴ of a larger, more robust¹⁵ peacekeeping force in Darfur.

The deployment of a U.N./African Union force of 26,000 soldiers is expected to begin at the end of the year.  Some of the rebel groups have said they would not attend the peace talks until the hybrid¹⁶ force was in place to stop the rape¹⁷, looting and murder 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 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

3 mediated   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的过去式和过去分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• He mediated in the quarrel between the two boys. 他调解两个孩子之间的争吵。
• The government mediated between the workers and the employers. 政府在工人与雇主间搞调和。

4 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

5 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

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

8 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 riskier   

冒险的，危险的( risky的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Now they are starting to demand higher returns on riskier assets. 而今他们开始在风险更高的资产上要求更高的回报。
• The problem with that: RIM's business is getting riskier every quarter. 不过问题也随之而来：RIM面临的业务风险正逐季增大。

11 convoys   

n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队

参考例句：

• Truck convoys often stop over for lunch here. 车队经常在这里停下来吃午饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A UN official said aid programs will be suspended until there's adequate protection for relief convoys. 一名联合国官员说将会暂停援助项目，直到援助车队能够得到充分的保护为止。 来自辞典例句

12 hijack   

v.劫持，劫机，拦路抢劫

参考例句：

• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。
• The hijack take place just after the plane take off.劫持是飞机刚起飞后发生的。

13 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

14 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。

15 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

16 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

17 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。