VOA标准英语2010年-Britain Announces International Fund t

The move is part of a new effort aimed at bringing peace and security to war-torn Afghanistan.

Selah Hennessy | London 28 January 2010

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown delivers a speech during the Opening Session of the Afghanistan Conference in London, 28 Jan 2010

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced a new international fund that will be aimed at winning over Taliban fighters.  The move, announced during an international conference in London, is part of a new drive to bring peace and security to war-torn Afghanistan. 

Mr. Brown made the announcement to a host of delegates from around 70 nations.

"We are today establishing an international trust fund to finance this Afghan-led peace and reintegration program to provide an economic alternative to those who have none," Mr. Brown said.

The program, which is thought to be worth around $500-million, will give jobs to Taliban fighters who denounce extremism.  It is part of a plan to weaken the insurgency¹ in Afghanistan with the hope of eventually bringing peace to the war-torn country.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai called for international delegates to support the plan, which aims to reintegrate Taliban fighters into mainstream² society.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai makes a speech during the Opening Session of the Afghanistan Conference in London, Thursday, 28 Jan. 2010

"We must reach out to all our countrymen, especially our disenchanted brothers who are not part of al-Qaida or other terrorist networks," Mr. Karzai said.

Mr. Karzai called for Saudi Arabia to help mediate³.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States would support the program as long as the insurgents⁴ pledge to renounce⁵ violence and al-Qaida, and embrace democracy.

Mr. Brown and Mr. Karzai spoke⁶ at length on the importance of development for the future of Afghanistan.  Mr. Brown highlighted the move earlier this week by the International Monetary⁷ Fund and the World Bank to provide up to $1.6-billion in debt relief from major creditors⁸.

He also said the international community aims to increase the share of aid delivered through the Afghan Government to 50 percent in the next two years.

Mr. Karzai said right now more than 80 percent of aid bypasses the Afghan government.  

"Large security costs of development projects and unacceptably high margins⁹ of profits plague reconstruction¹⁰ contracts," Mr. Karzai said.

Afghan Minister of Finance Omar Zakhilwal said the aim of transferring leadership to the Afghan government could not be achieved unless the country's government is given more control over financial aid.

"If this conference is the beginning of a new strength and partnership¹¹, a partnership where the Afghan government assumes increased leadership in responsibility for restoring peace and security in Afghanistan, then how aid is delivered must change," Zakhilwal said.
 
According to the World Bank, Afghanistan's national budget is 90 percent financed by foreign countries and multi-lateral bodies.

Afghanistan received $6.3-billion in aid in 2008-2009, making it one of the world's most aid-dependent countries.

1 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

2 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

3 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。

4 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

5 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

8 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

10 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

11 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。