VOA标准英语2010年-Sudanese Children First Victims of War

More than 300,000 children in Sudan die every year from preventable causes, about 26,000 mothers die each year giving birth, says UNICEF

Lisa Schlein | Geneva 14 June 2010
 UN mission dubs¹ Southern Sudan as the ‘hungriest place on earth’ with a recent survey indicating almost 46 percent of children in the region are malnourished [file photo]

The U.N. Children's Fund says hundreds of thousands of children in Sudan are dying from preventable reasons. UNICEF says children are the first victims of war and their situation is unlikely to get better unless peace comes to that country.

 The U.N. Children's Fund says more than 300,000 children in Sudan die every year from preventable causes. And, it says, about 26,000 mothers die each year giving birth.

UNICEF statistics show about 75,000 children die from malaria². But, it adds malaria deaths are going down significantly because about 70 percent of households with under-five children now have insecticide-treated mosquito nets.

Nils Kastberg, UNICEF Representative in Sudan [file photo]

UNICEF Representative in Sudan, Nils Kastberg, says diarrhea, respiratory infections and measles³ also are big child killers⁴. He says too many children in Sudan are badly malnourished and that is a big reason why they are dying.

"We basically need to strengthen the nutrition value," says Kastberg. "Generally, mortality around the world, you tend to say that under-five mortality is 30 percent of the children die because they are weak out of malnutrition⁵. In the case of Sudan, it is 60 percent of the children that have various degrees of malnutrition that weaken them and that is why they fall so easily to malaria, to diarrhea, to respiratory infections."  

Kastberg says poverty and war-like conditions in Sudan also affect education. He says at least three-million children are not going to school and many of those that get a primary education do not continue their studies.

He says in many Sudanese states fewer than 40 percent of women are literate⁶. He says there is no way education and survival rates can be improved unless Sudan has peace.

Sudan will be holding a referendum in 2011 that will decide whether the South secedes⁷ from the North and becomes independent. Kastberg says most people are predicting there will be an eruption⁸ of different levels of conflict after the referendum.

"What we are trying to do is everything possible so that all those doom⁹ scenarios¹⁰ do not happen ... and if we can make progress in that regard, then I think we would be able to reduce under-five mortality very quickly in two or three years by at least a third, maternal¹¹ mortality at least by a third," Kastberg adds.

Kastberg says UNICEF is running a peace campaign throughout the country to get people to think about the cost of war and the cost of peace. He says church and tribal¹² leaders, Imams and political leaders are engaged in the campaign.

He says at least 15,000 so-called student peace ambassadors also are spreading the message of peace. He says a TV campaign is getting underway in the capital, Khartoum. He notes the World Food Program is including information leaflets as part of its food distribution program to 11-million people
 

1 dubs   

v.给…起绰号( dub的第三人称单数 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

2 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

3 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

4 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

5 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

6 literate   

n.学者；adj.精通文学的，受过教育的

参考例句：

• Only a few of the nation's peasants are literate.这个国家的农民中只有少数人能识字。
• A literate person can get knowledge through reading many books.一个受过教育的人可以通过读书而获得知识。

7 secedes   

v.脱离，退出( secede的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

8 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

9 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

10 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

11 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

12 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。