VOA标准英语2014--联合国发布2015年全球发展计划报告

 

Planning Post-2015 Development 联合国发布2015年全球发展计划报告

The U.N. Millennium¹ Development Goals are due to expire at the end of next year. Debate is underway on what should replace them. One U.N. official says they should be based, in part, on the findings of the 2014 Human Development Report.

The eight Millennium Development Goals were established in 2000. Nearly 190 countries at the time committed to achieving them by 2015. They include eradicating² extreme poverty and hunger; promoting gender³ equality; reducing child mortality and improving maternal⁴ health; and fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria⁵ and other diseases.

Much success has been made since the goals were set, but progress is not equal among the MDGs. With their expiration⁶ near, the question arises: what next?

The Human Development Report – released July 24th in Tokyo -- calls for reducing vulnerabilities in society and building resilience.

Khalid Malik, author of the report and director of the Human Development Office of the U.N. Development Program, said, “For the first time in the 22/23 years we’ve been tracking progress in human development, three countries in the very high human development category have actually gone backwards⁷: Ireland, Greece and Cyprus. So that’s quite worrisome, concerning. Second, the top five and the bottom five are quite stable.”

The top five are Norway, Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United States. While the bottom five are all in Africa -- Sierra Leone, Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger.

Malik said when replacing the Millennium Development Goals, ongoing⁸ problems slowing advancement⁹ need to be addressed.

“You have to take vulnerability into account in setting up the new goals, which are being debated right now. There’s a lot of consensus¹⁰ we should be able to aim for eliminating poverty. So, the argument there is we should aim not only to do that, but also to make certain that people stay at zero poverty.”

However, he said eliminating poverty – and preventing people from falling back into it – is not just about money. It‘s a multidimensional problem.

“Poverty is not just simply income. There are health and education aspects, water supply, sanitation¹¹. It needs a broader emphasis than simply increasing income,” he said.

It’s estimated there are 1.5-billion people considered multidimensionally poor. About 800-million, he said, are just above the poverty line.

He said, “Any shock, any change in circumstance will push them back into poverty.”

He added that the goals that replace the MDGs must support livelihoods¹² and families.

“The new set of goals should look at universal approaches to social services, social protection – and also to push for Jobs. That’s why the report puts a lot of emphasis on full employment, which sort of disappeared from strategic thinking of most countries, particularly developed countries since the 60s and 70s. And we are now arguing that it’s time to return to them.”

The UNDP official said jobs are far more important than just the wages a person receives.

“It has to do with self-identity. It also correlates with violence. More employment reduces violence and contributes to family stability. They are all kind of aspects which are positive. So that’s the argument we made. But the new set of goals has to account for these issues.”

He said it really comes down to making good investments.

“The whole thrust of human development is that if you invest in people the people will look after society and the economy. And all the work we have done so far -- and all the evidence we looked at – basically shows that when you have a more equal society things just do better. So any movement towards that has to be supported,” he said.

Those investments, he said, must be made in both men and women and require new thinking and a change in perspective.

1 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

2 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

3 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

4 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。

5 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。

6 expiration   

n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物

参考例句：

• Can I have your credit card number followed by the expiration date?能告诉我你的信用卡号码和它的到期日吗?
• This contract shall be terminated on the expiration date.劳动合同期满，即行终止。

7 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

8 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

9 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

10 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

11 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

12 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。