2007年VOA标准英语-G8 Renew Aid Pledges for Africa; Activists Say

By Sonja Pace
Heiligendamm
08 June 2007

Leaders of the G8 group of wealthy industrial nations pledged $60 billion to fight AIDS and malaria¹ in Africa. Aid activists³ welcome the help, but say it is not enough. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from near the summit site at Heiligendamm in Germany.

activist2 and well known local gospel singer, Musa Njoko performs during a program of the Global Health Council's rally in Durban, South Africa, 20 May 2007<br />" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070616/1459340.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

HIV positive activist and well known local gospel singer, Musa Njoko performs during a program of the Global Health Council's rally in Durban, South Africa, 20 May 2007

In their summit statement, issued Friday, G8 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to help the developing world, including a pledge of $60 billion to fight killer⁴ diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis⁵ in Africa. Half of that amount is to come from the United States.

The leaders renewed commitments made two years ago at a G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, which focused largely on the developing world and Africa in particular.

Speaking at the Heiligendamm summit, after meeting with visiting African leaders, host German Chancellor⁶ Angela Merkel reaffirmed the G8's commitment to help.

"The G8 is aware of the commitments made and we will live up to them," she promised. Mrs. Merkel also said both the G8 and African countries had to live up to certain expectations - these, she said were discussed in Friday morning's session.

Those sentiments were echoed by Ghanaian President John Kufuor, who spoke⁷ on behalf of the group of African nations.

"Africa expects the G8 to deliver and promises, on Africa's part, we are committed to also delivering," he said.

Africa's commitment in this is to fight corruption⁸ and work for proper governance and democracy.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the deal does represent progress.

"There's a $60 billion commitment on help for HIV-AIDS, there's a major initiative on education and additional funding for that, there's support for Africa peacekeeping, support, specifically for Africa's ability to trade its goods and support also for proper governance because this is a partnership⁹, it's a deal between Africa and the developed world," said Mr. Blair.

Aid activists in general praise Chancellor Merkel for putting Africa high on the agenda. But, many say, the pledges, particularly to fight diseases, are simply not enough.

Collins Magalasi, country director for the group ActionAid for South Africa and Lesotho calls the pledge a smokescreen.

"We realize this announcement is just there to cover up for the failure that the G8 has made. The $60 billion they're talking about is not enough … and…What we hear is that the $60 billion includes the $30 billion that [President] Bush had earlier on announced," he said. "There is not really a huge announcement so we do not have that much to celebrate about."

But, others welcome the pledges. The group, Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria says the agreement makes it possible to defeat these pandemic diseases. This will save lives, activists say.

1 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

5 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

6 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 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。