2007年VOA标准英语-UN Expert Says Hunger Growing Worldwide

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
14 June 2007

A U.N. expert says more than 850 million people around the world are starving. The expert, who has submitted a report on the state of world hunger to the U.N. Human Rights Council, says the international community has failed to honor its pledges to eradicate¹ hunger. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva where the Council is in session.

Jean Ziegler, 14 Jun 2007

The U.N. special investigator² on the right to food, Jean Ziegler says hunger in the world is progressing on a catastrophic scale. He says the number of people suffering from hunger has been rising every year since 1996 and reached 854 million in 2006.

He tells VOA it is unacceptable and shameful³ that people are getting sick and dying from hunger in a world that has more than enough resources to feed everyone on earth.

"Every five seconds last year, a child below 10 died from hungerm," he said. "Every four minutes, somebody loses the eyesight by lack of vitamin A.  And, this happens on a planet where without any problem 12 billion people, which means the double of humanity, could be nourished normally. This means 2,700 calories adult person per day."

The United Nations reports that Asia has the largest number of hungry people. But, in proportion to population, the U.N. finds hunger is growing most rapidly in Africa.

In his report, Ziegler expresses particular concern about food crises affecting the Darfur region of the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Horn of Africa and North Korea.

He also focuses on the silent tragedy of children suffering and dying from hunger and malnutrition⁴. He notes children who do not have enough to eat in their first five years suffer from physical stunting⁵ and limited intellectual development. He says thousands of children, many in Africa, are driven to enlist⁶ in armed groups because of hunger.

Ziegler says hunger forces tens of thousands of people to flee their own countries, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa. He says people from countries such as Chad, Congo, Cameroon and Mauritania risk their lives to reach European shores.

He says many people have drowned while crossing the Mediterranean⁷, the Adriatic or the Atlantic. And, many of those who survive, he says, are treated as criminals and sent home as illegal immigrants.

"This tragedy will not go away because the destruction of soil, hunger in Africa is growing from year to year to year, which means that more and more desperate people will try to reach the coast of Africa and then to cross over," he said. "So, something has to be done. The military response is totally inadequate⁸."

Ziegler says refugees from hunger should not be confused with so-called economic refugees who migrate to other countries in search of a better life. He says refugees from hunger do not move voluntarily, but out of necessity.

He is calling on the U.N. Human Rights Council to create a new international law that would grant temporary asylum⁹ to refugees from hunger.

1 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

2 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

3 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

4 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。

5 stunting   

v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective To report three-year-old twin brothers with speech stunting. 目的报道孪生兄弟同患语言发育迟缓的临床结果。 来自互联网
• No one should talk while stunting except coach or back spotter. 在技巧进行的过程中，只有教练或后保能说话。 来自互联网

6 enlist   

vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍

参考例句：

• They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
• The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会，支持他们的正义斗争。

7 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

8 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

9 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。