VOA标准英语2009年-West Africa Battles Flow of Illegal Weapon

West African countries are working to stem the flow of illegal weapons linked to years of conflict and illegal drug trafficking.

The Economic Community of West African States is working to reduce the number of illegal weapons in the region.

Mohamed Lamine Coulibaly heads the ECOWAS Small Arms Control Program. He says it is a problem linked to both good governance and poverty that is too broad for any individual country to tackle alone.

"We have to take a regional approach to it," Coulibaly said. "That is why ECOWAS is encouraging member states to go toward a security collective effort in order to enhance the capacity of individual member states to be able to deal with the small arms proliferation."

Coulibaly says there are many aspects to minimizing the flow of illicit¹ weapons, including a complete review of national laws governing the use and ownership of small arms.

The ECOWAS program is being supported by the United Nations Development Program. Coulibaly says one of its first goals is getting a better sense of the scope of the problem by asking each member state to conduct a national survey to determine how many illicit small arms are currently in circulation.

"If we want to come up with a national action plan, we have to be sure that this national action plan is based on concrete facts," Coulibaly said. "So far Ghana has almost completed the survey. Sierra Leone as well. Liberia has to do other step before concluding it."

Years of conflict have contributed to the proliferation of weapons outside the control of law enforcement, especially in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Cote d'Ivoire.

"We read every day that armed robbers are being killed, armed robbers are fighting police and they are using sophisticated arms," Amoa said.

Baffour Amoa heads the civil society group West African Network on Small Arms. While those civil wars are over, he says the weapons they brought to the region remain a threat to stability.

"The challenge is that as wars are coming to an end, poverty is growing and therefore it looks like young people of today have no patience to wait for tomorrow," Amoa said. "They all want to be rich today, and some of them have taken to armed violence and which is quiet a serious challenge as well given the fact that the drug menace is also growing alongside."

Coastal² communities in West Africa are transit³ points for South American drug traffickers shipping⁴ cocaine⁵ to Europe. Law enforcement officials say that illicit trade brings with it a supply of small arms.

"Dealing⁶ with an illicit problem is a challenging one and all sorts of ideas need to be tried to see which one will work best and therefore if government intends to entice⁷ people with small arms to come forward and give them for some token and people respond perhaps it will lead us to some of the communities where some of these are hidden," Amoa said.

The International Action Network on Small Arms estimates that there are more than eight million firearms in West Africa which remain the primary weapons of violence in ethnic⁸ feuds⁹, local wars, armed insurrection, and terrorism.

1 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

2 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

3 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

4 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

5 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 feuds   

n.长期不和，世仇( feud的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Quarrels and feuds between tribes became incessant. 部落间的争吵、反目成仇的事件接连不断。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• There were feuds in the palace, no one can deny. 宫里也有斗争，这是无可否认的。 来自辞典例句