VOA常速英语2008年-Global Effort to Fight Women's Poverty Launched

By Michael Bowman
Washington
13 April 2008

Dignitaries from around the world gathered in Washington Sunday to launch an ambitious project aimed at ending global poverty among women. VOA's Michael Bowman reports.

United Nations statistics show that women account for 70 percent of the world's poor; that women are owners of just one percent of the world's titled land; and that two-thirds of the world's illiterate¹ people are women.

Women's rights organizations exist in many countries, but now a new group, the Women, Faith, and Development Alliance, has emerged with a global outlook and more than $1 billion in financial commitments. The alliance aims to boost the economic status of women and fight for the changes that will make such improvements possible. Among those taking part in the initiative are Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Queen Noor of Jordan, former Irish President Mary Robinson, and former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell.

The chairperson of the alliance, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, says women in many countries have made strides towards legal recognition of basic rights, but that progress is not enough.

"Often, even if the laws on the books are changed, the reality in villages and cities has not," said Madeleine Albright. "So appalling² abuses are still being committed against women. And these include domestic violence and rape³ and coerced⁴ abortions⁵, ritual mutilations, dowry murders, honor crimes, and even the killing⁶ of infants simply because they are female. Some say [that] all this is cultural and there is nothing anybody can do about it. I say it is criminal, and we each have an obligation to stop it."

Albright added that poverty is not a natural condition for humanity, but rather the result of choices that nations and societies make. She said different choices can and must be made so that poverty among women is eradicated⁷.

The Women, Faith and Development Alliance will combine the efforts of dozens of international organizations to combat gender⁸ violence, boost educational and entrepreneurial opportunities for women, promote women's health, and improve women's access to justice, among many other goals.

1 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

2 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。

3 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。

4 coerced   

v.迫使做( coerce的过去式和过去分词 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配

参考例句：

• They were coerced into negotiating a settlement. 他们被迫通过谈判解决。
• He was coerced into making a confession. 他被迫招供。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。

8 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。