VOA标准英语2010年-UN Signs Agreement on Children with Da

Representatives of the United Nations and the Sudanese opposition¹ movement, the Justice and Equality Movement, have signed an agreement on the protection of children in the Darfur conflict.

The agreement, which has been under negotiation² since 2008, is remarkable³ in that talks between the U.N. Children's Fund and Justice and Equality Movement continued after peace negotiations⁴ between the Sudanese government and rebel groups broke down.

 

A large delegation⁵ of senior leaders of the Justice and Equality Movement came to Geneva to sign the Memorandum⁶ of Understanding with the U.N. Children's Fund.

UNICEF representative for Sudan, Nils Kastberg, tells VOA the high-level composition of the JEM delegation is significant.

"It sets a precedent⁷ in the sense that even though the peace negotiations broke down, we were able to continue and conclude an agreement on strict humanitarian⁸ grounds,” Kastberg said. “I think it is very important that the Sudanese government or any other government, that they continue respecting the fact that humanitarian issues need to be negotiated on a separate track from the peace track." 

Kastberg says the agreement aims at demobilizing child soldiers. It also aims to protect children from being killed or maimed during conflict and to prevent attacks against schools and hospitals.

He says the Memorandum of Understanding allows for the possibility of independent verification.

"They claim not to have any child combatants,” Kastberg added. “That is their position. But, in this MOU, we have the ability to access any area, at anytime within, obviously no other requirements than the usual notification in order to make the preparatory arrangements and to verify for ourselves that there are no children associated or recruited into the Justice and Equality Movement." 

Kastberg says access to rebel controlled areas is also important so aid agencies can bring humanitarian assistance to children and other vulnerable people.

The next step, he says, is to prepare a plan of action, which lays out the measures JEM will employ to protect children in its area.

Kastberg says the process of trying to reduce the number of children associated with armed forces in Sudan began nine years ago, when there were about 20,000 child soldiers. He says the number has fallen to between 7,000 and 8,000.

He says UNICEF is negotiating child protection agreements with three other rebel groups in Darfur. He hopes the agency will be able to sign similar agreements with them.
 

1 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。

2 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

6 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

7 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

8 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。