2007年VOA标准英语-UN Calls for Stop to Trafficking of Children in

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
16 June 2007

United Nations and international aid agencies are calling for a stop to the trafficking of children in Africa.  As the world marks the Day of the African Child, the agencies condemn¹ a practice that exploits and enslaves children in Africa and elsewhere.  Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

African boys like this one may be abducted2 and used as child soldiers and laborers4

The United Nations estimates 1.2 million children are trafficked every year around the world, 32 percent of them from West and Central Africa.  The children are trafficked into prostitution, into armed groups to serve as soldiers, to provide cheap or unpaid⁵ labor³ or to work as house servants or beggars.

In Africa, the recruitment of children as soldiers by governments and rebel groups occurs largely in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, in West Africa, in Uganda and Sudan.

Richard Danziger heads the counter-trafficking division of the International Organization for Migration⁶.   He says child soldiers are subject to the most appalling⁷ form of abuse and exploitation.

"Children as young as five, six years old - not necessarily all fighting.  They may be put to work cooking for soldiers.  Girls being raped⁸.  I guess you would call them sex slaves.  Children being forced to commit atrocities⁹ and so forth¹⁰.  And, then if you look at the more sort of servitude type of slavery… If they are fishing for example, one of the things they do - because they have little fingers - is dive into the lake and try to untangle the nets and there are often accidents in this sort of work," he explained. 

Danziger says the children usually are forced to sleep on the floor and to work 12 to 16 hours a day.  In return, all they get is some food.   

He says another major form of child trafficking in Africa is the corruption¹¹ of a traditional practice.  Formerly¹² poor families would send their children to live with better off relatives or friends.  In exchange for learning a trade and getting an education, children would help around the house.

But, Danziger says this system has broken down because of changing social and economic structures.  Now, he says children often are employed in slave-like conditions.  They get no education and have to work long hours for food.

"One example of this is in Ghana, where children get sent off to help fishermen on Lake Volta," he added.  "And we have a very good program in place with the government of Ghana that is trying to give alternative employment to the fishermen - because they are over-fishing the lake - income generation to the parents, and then putting the kids in school." 

Last July, African countries pledged to try to end child trafficking.  Since then, Chad and Togo have incorporated a plan of action against child trafficking into their child protection plans.  Ivory Coast, Gabon and Congo have also taken steps to combat this scourge¹³.

1 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

2 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

5 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

6 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

7 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

8 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

9 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

11 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。

12 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

13 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。