VOA标准英语2009-Report: Afghan Conflict Driven by Poverty

By Selah Hennessy
London
18 November 2009

 
Young Afghan girls help their father cleaning outside of their house in impoverished¹ locality in Kabul (Oct 2009 file photo)
A Britain-based charity has found a majority of Afghans see poverty and unemployment as the major cause of conflict in their country. According to the report, interference by neighboring countries was fourth in the tally² of factors.

Oxfam and a group of Afghan organizations interviewed more than 700 Afghans.

After poverty, the Afghans blamed government weakness and corruption³ as the second most important factor behind fighting. The Taliban came third, followed by interference by neighboring countries.

Oxfam representative Michael Bailey says what came across during the interviews was a traumatized people.

"That analysis by Afghans themselves, what they are saying essentially⁴ is that their daily lives have to improve if we want to see peace and stability," he said.

He says the Afghan government has a major responsibility to improve the lives of its citizens and end corruption. And he said the international community also has a role to play.

"At the same time, the international community and the major donors⁶ - particularly the United States actually, being by far the largest donor⁵ - have got a responsibility, I think, to use aid resources much more effectively," he said. "You can see that over the years there has not been a good policy of building up the Afghan institutions capacity to deliver basic services to people."

Asked about their lives during the course of the past 30 years, one in 10 people said they had been imprisoned⁷ at least once. One in five said they had been tortured; many of those were women.

Professor Malcolm Chalmers, an analyst⁸ at The Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank, says Oxfam's findings are not surprising. His own research has shown that poverty and conflict frequently go hand in hand. But he says it is the wide gap in incomes that makes the situation particularly bad and makes people mobilize in protest.

 
Poppy crop growing in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan
"There are some people, including ministers in the government in Afghanistan, who are doing very well economically out of this conflict and out of international aid and out of the narcotics⁹ trade. But there are others - the majority of the Afghan population - who are not seeing very many benefits," said Chalmers.

He adds the Taliban, which came third on the list, is only one of many players impacting the lives of Afghanistan's people.

"They have been subject to conflict for 30 years, which has taken different forms and often those doing the most damage to them as individuals have not been the Taliban," he said. "They have been other warlords or indeed those serving as the government in Kabul at any particular time so it is not surprising they see a range of different actors as being responsible for their problems."

During interviews, one in six Afghans said they are considering leaving their country. Three-quarters said at some point in the past 30 years they have been forced to flee their home.

Oxfam says those interviewed felt that both sides of the conflict should do more to prioritize the safety of Afghan civilians¹⁰.

1 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

3 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。

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

6 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 narcotics   

n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒

参考例句：

• The use of narcotics by teenagers is a problem in many countries. 青少年服用麻醉药在许多国家中都是一个问题。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Police shook down the club, looking for narcotics. 警方彻底搜查了这个俱乐部，寻找麻醉品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。