VOA标准英语2014--US Waivers Could Send Mixed Signals on Use of Child Soldiers

 

US Waivers Could Send Mixed Signals on Use of Child Soldiers

STATE DEPARTMENT— 

President Barack Obama has waived² restrictions³ against providing military aid to six countries cited this year for using child soldiers. The countries, mostly in Africa, were among nine listed by the State Department in a June report on human trafficking. The waivers shield six countries from being fully⁴ subjected to penalties under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act, which requires the U.S. to cut off some forms of military assistance to offending countries. There is concern that the waivers send out the wrong message.

Child soldiers often wind up being further victimized after joining a conflict, said American University youth and conflict professor Susan Shepler.

“They are often forcefully recruited into armed forces or sometimes go into armed forces because they have no other choice in terms of their poverty or family situation. Then, once they are participating, they are sometimes called on to commit horrible atrocities,” said Shepler.

Concerns about such abuses prompted the U.S. to cite nine countries for their use of child soldiers. They are the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Myanmar.

Now the U.S. has given all of these countries, except Syria, Myanmar and Sudan, a full or partial waiver from the Child Soldier Prevention Act.

State Department Human Rights and Security advisor⁵ Dan Mahanty explained that the department considered if improvement was being made.

“We are looking primarily at progress that may have been made by the country, hopefully along the lines of a national action plan which we will work very closely with the U.N. to help enforce and implement⁶.  Second, we are looking at the relevance⁷ of the assistance to national security objectives of the United States,” said Mahanty.

Mahanty rejects claims that the waivers send out a mixed message to countries that use child soldiers.

“Quite the opposite actually. I think the time period we have between when the ‘Trafficking in Persons’ report comes out and the countries are identified and the point in which the president makes his determination of waivers is actually really a key target of opportunity for us to talk with civil society, to speak with U.N. and to speak with the countries in question to make it clear that it is by no means an automatic decision that the president will waive¹ certain forms of assistance,” said Mahanty.

Human rights advocate Adotei Akwei disagrees.

“That is what a recipient⁸ government in Africa is going to interpret it as - business as usual. The United States wants to train our security forces. 'Yes, there is some concerns about child soldiers but don't worry, it's not that serious.' And I think that's the real danger here,” said Akwei.

He said while it can be difficult to implement changes, not doing something to curb⁹ the use of child soldiers is worse.

“Children being physically¹⁰ abused. Children being at risk of death. Children not having an education. Children being exposed to violence and beginning to be trained as soldiers before they have the mental ability or the moral ability to know when violence is acceptable, if it ever is,” said Akwei.

Akwei said one of the best things the U.S. can do to help children like these is to follow through on its policy to hold accountable countries that use children in conflicts.

1 waive   

vt.放弃，不坚持(规定、要求、权力等)

参考例句：

• I'll record to our habitat office waive our claim immediately.我立即写信给咱们的总公司提出放弃索赔。
• In view of the unusual circumstances,they agree to waive their requirement.鉴于特殊情况，他们同意放弃他们的要求。

2 waived   

v.宣布放弃( waive的过去式和过去分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等）

参考例句：

• He has waived all claim to the money. 他放弃了索取这笔钱的权利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I waived the discourse, and began to talk of my business. 我撇开了这个话题，开始讲我的事情。 来自辞典例句

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

7 relevance   

n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性

参考例句：

• Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
• Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。

8 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

9 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

10 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。