2007年VOA标准英语-West African Women Politicians Struggle to Get

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
14 June 2007
 

Women politicians in West Africa are trying to follow the lead of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to reach high elected positions, but many are finding it difficult.  VOA's Nico Colombant has covered recent elections throughout West Africa and has this report from our regional bureau in Dakar.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Last year's inauguration¹ of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Monrovia was both touching² and historic.

The former finance minister became Africa's first elected female president. Festivities rang in the occasion to celebrate the new rein³ of the politician Liberians call "Mama Ellen."

In Mali recently, a woman candidate, Sidibe Aminata Diallo, tried to imitate this success. Her party's name, the Movement for Environmental Education and Sustainable Development, summed up her platform.

She was the first woman candidate in a Malian presidential election. "It is a challenge in a Muslim country, in a country where traditionally women do not play a forward role, where our place is more at home and in keeping traditions going."

The professor of development and town planning fared dismally⁴ at the polls. She got less than one percent of the vote.

Many women, like Djeneba Diallo -- no relation to the candidate -- voted for the incumbent⁵ and winner, Amadou Toumani Toure. "In all honesty, I do not know her very well," she said. "But it is really good in our society for a woman to be candidate.  I am really proud of her."

One of the few Diallo supporters, Sangare Awa Mariko, said the election marked a step in the fight for women's rights. "I know she has been the first. And after that, I know that there are other women here in Mali. Next time, they will do like her.   And we are going to support them, we have to support them.  Women have to support them, men have to support them, everybody. We have to push every woman to be like her so one day we will have a president who will try to fight for our case."

In Senegal, ahead of recent legislative⁶ elections, there was an effort to pass a gender⁷ parity⁸ law that would guarantee a certain number of assembly seats to women.

Many African women weigh the advancement9 of women politicians with how they stand on issues

The proposal never passed.  Many women politicians in West Africa are appointed ministers of culture, health or women's issues, but very few are ever elected as legislators.

Pemba Mbow is a former Senegalese minister of culture, who has run for local government offices, but has failed to get elected. Still, she is against parity laws.

"We need to be very careful," she says. "This is the reason why I disagree with the law of parity. Because we need a consolidation¹⁰ of the position of women in the society, everywhere, in institutions, but not putting women and manipulating them, because our society is changing very, very, deeply."

So it may be a while until the scenes in Liberia of women celebrating Ellen Johnson Sirleaf are repeated.

President Sirleaf has promised a lot in war-torn Liberia, so her performance, if successful, may well encourage more women to run and more voters to elect them. 

1 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

2 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

3 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

4 dismally   

adv.阴暗地，沉闷地

参考例句：

• Fei Little Beard assented dismally. 费小胡子哭丧着脸回答。 来自子夜部分
• He began to howl dismally. 它就凄凉地吠叫起来。 来自辞典例句

5 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

6 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

7 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

8 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

9 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

10 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法