VOA标准英语2009年-Africa to Adopt Refugee/IDP Convention At

By Peter Heinlein
Addis Ababa
20 October 2009

An African summit is being held in the Ugandan capital, Kampala this week to pledge help for the continent's 17 million refugees and displaced people. The heads of major international humanitarian¹ agencies are attending, but most African heads of state will be missing.

 
Newly displaced families wait for registration² outside an IDP camp outside Mogadishu, Somalia, 15 May 2009
The two-day meeting that opens Thursday in Kampala is billed as the "African Union Special Summit on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons".

Among those attending will be the United Nations High Commissioner³ for Refugees Antonio Guterres, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator⁴ John Holmes, the Director General of the UN International Office of Migration⁵, William Lacy Swing, and the International Red Cross President Jacob Kellenberger.

The host, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will address the opening session. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is also expected to speak in his capacity as holder⁶ of the rotating African Union Chairmanship.

But the hoped for show of support from other heads of state has failed to materialize. A summit organizer, who asked not to be identified, because he is not a spokesman, said plans to have five heads of state act as "champions of refugees and the displaced" probably would be scrapped⁷, since it looks as if too few leaders will attend.

The main item on the summit agenda is adoption⁸ of an African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa. The United Nations estimates 11.6 million Africans have been forced from their homes by wars and other conflicts. That figure represents nearly half of all the displaced people in the world.

Moses Okello, Addis Ababa representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says the convention to be adopted is just one step in a process that was started three years ago, and still has a long way to go.

"The idea is to move the process forward toward resolving this question on the continent. It's not something that's going to happen overnight, but these are important steps African heads of state will be taking in addressing this enduring question on the African continent," he said.

A UNHCR statement issued in advance of the summit pointed⁹ to the global shift in recent years away from a focus on refugees, and to the more complex issue of people displaced within their own country. It said, "While refugee populations have declined in recent years, internal displacement¹⁰ continues to rise and the number of people uprooted¹¹ from their homes is mounting."

Experts say the displacement is aggravating¹² social upheavals¹³, wars and food shortages in many parts of the continent. Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the African countries with the largest numbers of refugees and internally displaced.

The summit sidelines will feature a ministerial level meeting of the East African regional grouping IGAD to discuss developments in southern Sudan. Diplomats¹⁴ say the agenda will include a review of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and an attempt to mediate¹⁵ differences between opposition¹⁶ political parties in the south.

Sudanese diplomats say no decision had been made as of Tuesday on whether Sudan's indicted¹⁷ President Omar al-Bashir would attend the summit. Uganda is a signatory to the International Criminal Court, but President Museveni has made clear there would be no attempt to arrest the Sudanese leader on war crimes warrants should he visit Kampala.

Diplomatic observers at the summit say they will be paying close attention to the relationship between Mr. Museveni and Libyan leader Gadhafi. The two men are known to have clashed in closed-door African Union summit sessions, where Mr. Museveni is said to be a vocal¹⁸ opponent of the Libyan leader's efforts to use his AU chairmanship to further his dream of creating a United States of Africa.

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

3 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

4 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

5 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。

6 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

7 scrapped   

废弃(scrap的过去式与过去分词)； 打架

参考例句：

• This machine is so old that it will soon have to be scrapped. 这架机器太旧，快报废了。
• It had been thought that passport controls would be scrapped. 人们曾认为会放开护照管制。

8 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

9 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

10 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

11 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 aggravating   

adj.恼人的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• How aggravating to be interrupted! 被打扰，多令人生气呀！
• Diesel exhaust is particularly aggravating to many susceptible individuals. 许多体质敏感的人尤其反感柴油废气。

13 upheavals   

突然的巨变( upheaval的名词复数 )； 大动荡； 大变动； 胀起

参考例句：

• the latest upheavals in the education system 最近教育制度上的种种变更
• These political upheavals might well destroy the whole framework of society. 这些政治动乱很可能会破坏整个社会结构。

14 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

16 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

17 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

18 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。