VOA常速英语2014--Women on the Rise in African Politics 非洲妇女对政治热情上升

 

Women on the Rise in African Politics 非洲妇女对政治热情上升

DAKAR — Africa now has three female heads of state, after Catherine Samba-Panza of the Central African Republic took office in January. Though women leaders remain the exception in African politics, activists¹ say things are looking up.

达喀尔 – 自从中非共和国的凯萨琳·森巴·班莎一月份就职公务员以后，非洲现在已经有三位女性国家元首了。虽然女性领袖在非洲政体中仍然是例外，积极分子说事情正在朝着进步的方向发展。

Women are breaking into the "boys club" of the African presidency².

女性正在闯入非洲政体的“男生俱乐部”。

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, or "Ma Ellen," was the first in 2005 as the country emerged from 13 years of brutal³ civil war.

利比亚总统埃伦·约翰逊·瑟利夫，或者是“埃伦妈妈”，是第一位女总统，在2005年随着国家产生于13年的野蛮内战

Joyce Banda stepped up in Malawi in 2012 after the sudden death of the president. She had been the vice⁴ president. 

乔伊丝·班达是在2012年上一届总统突然死亡后成为马拉维总统的。她曾经是副总统。

And now there's President Catherine Samba-Panza in the Central African Republic, a country torn apart by rebellion and sectarian violence.

现在中非共和国的凯萨琳·森巴·班莎是另外一个，中非共和国是一个饱受叛乱和宗教暴力分子折磨的国家。

Each of these women has taken office amid crisis and transition. Countries like Mali have seen their first female presidential candidates. Bad times are finally prying⁵ the doors open.

这些女性的每一个都是在危机和过渡的时候就职。像马里共和国这样的国家也出现了他们的第一位总统候选人。阶段性的不景气最后撕开了这道门。

"There's a joke I read the other day - when everything gets messed up, the women are asked to come in and clean up," says Executive Director for the NGO Women Africa Solidarity⁶, Oley Dibba-Wadda,

“我前几天读到一则笑话 – 当事情变得糟糕时，女人就被喊出来收拾残局，”无政府组织的非洲女性联盟 – 欧蕾·迪巴·丸铛 的执行董事说。

She says girls and young women are getting much-needed role models.

她说女孩和年轻女性现在非常需要行为楷模。

"To say it is possible, I can actually be a president being a woman…These trailblazers have just opened the flood doors and it's just going to happen. There is no thinking of going back. We can't go back," she said.

“说它是可能的，我能够作为一个女性成为一个总统…这些开拓者正好打开了这个洪水般的大门并且这也是必将发生的事情。根本就不用想回退。我们不可能回退。”

 

As African women break political "glass ceilings" at all levels of government, some are criticized for not doing enough for other women.

随着非洲女性打破了政府所有阶层的政治“玻璃隔阂”，一些人被指责对其他女性做的不够。

Samba-Panza made it clear from day one that she would be different. About a third of her Cabinet is female.

森巴·班莎从第一天就解释了她将是不同的。她的内阁成员中的三分之一都是女性。

"I intend to respect parity⁷ because until now, the previous governments didn't give us a lot of seats," she said. "There were only two or three women. But I won't choose women no matter what. I need to have women of worth, who are able to accompany my actions."

“我想要遵守平等性因为知道现在，先前的政府并没有给我们女性太多的席位，”她说“仅仅有两三个女性。但是不会顺便的选择女性，我需要有价值的女性，能够配合我行动政策的女性。”

Women hold just one-fifth of parliamentary seats and ministerial positions in sub-Saharan Africa.

在撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲（大陆）女性仅仅掌握着四分之一的议会和内阁位置席位。

Discrimination remains⁸, but the pool of qualified⁹ women is growing as more girls get to stay in school.

不公平代孕仍然存在，但是随着更多的女孩选择上学，有能力的女性的数目也在增长。

At least 16 African countries have passed parity laws. Countries like Rwanda reserve a percentage of parliamentary seats for women, while others like Senegal have set quotas¹⁰ for women on candidate lists.

至少16个非洲国家已经通过了平等法案。卢旺达专门为女性预留了一部分的议会席位，塞加内尔已经为在候选人名单上为女性设定了固定的数目。

The percentage of women in Senegal's legislature doubled in 2012 thanks to the law.

多亏了这项法案，在塞加内尔立法机关中女性百分比是2012年的两倍。

But prominent Senegalese politician and presidential adviser¹¹ Penda Mbow says true equality requires societal change.

塞加内尔杰出的政治家和总统顾问班莎·穆保说真正的平等仍然需要社会观念的改变。

"Parity laws may be one tool but they are not enough. We also need to fix what goes on inside political parties and let capable, promising¹² women emerge naturally so that when they are promoted, no one can say they got special treatment," said Penda Mbow.

“平等法案可能只是一中工具然而它并不足够。我们也需要改善政府人员内部的风气并且让那些有能力有前途的女性能够自然地浮现出来，这样当她们被提拔的时候，就没有人说她们是特别优待了。” 班莎说

Africa now has three formidable female presidents tackling everything from security to corruption¹³. Half a century after independence, women's time may have come.

非洲现在有三位令人敬畏的女性总统处理着国家的一切事物从安全到腐败。在独立了半个世纪之后，女性的时代正在到来。

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 prying   

adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开

参考例句：

• I'm sick of you prying into my personal life! 我讨厌你刺探我的私生活！
• She is always prying into other people's affairs. 她总是打听别人的私事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

7 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

10 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

11 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

12 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

13 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。