2006年VOA标准英语-Africa's Great Lakes Leaders to Sign Pact to St

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
13 December 2006

Heads of state and other representatives from 11 African countries are gathering¹ in Kenya's capital this week for their Great Lakes conference. The leaders are expected to sign a pact² that sets out plans to increase security, stability, and development in the area. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi.

Ibrahima Fall, special representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for Africa's Great Lakes region, talks to media 13 Dec 2006

The pact consists of a number of protocols⁴, funds, and programs to address security, governance, economic development, and social issues among the 11 countries.

It is based in part on a declaration that the leaders of Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia signed at their first summit in November 2004.

Among other things, the declaration states that conflicts and persistent⁵ insecurity in the Great Lakes region have many causes: poverty, suspicion between governments, massive human rights violations⁶, gender⁷ inequality, war crimes, small arms trafficking.

To that end, the leaders agreed to work together to tackle these problems. Conference spokesman George Ola-Davies explains.

"Every country has got its own particularity. Every country has got its own needs, and they have all come here with what is paramount⁸ for them," he said. "But when you look at the whole map itself, you will tell yourself that what they're looking for is stability. So, how can we get that stability?"

The end result, says Ola-Davies, is a number of regional projects and initiatives to increase security, stability, and development in the area. 

These include: a Regional Center for the Promotion⁹ of Democracy, Good Governance, Human Rights, and Civic¹⁰ Education; a 900-kilometer-long railway system that would link countries in the region; and a regional protocol³ that would punish acts of sexual violence against women and children during war and peace time.

Planning for the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region began in earnest in 2000, when the United Nations Security Council passed two resolutions calling for a conference on peace, security, democracy, and development in the region.

African countries were urged to take the lead themselves in tackling the region's problems. Twenty-seven donor¹¹ countries and the European Union are supporting their efforts.

The Great Lakes region has been plagued by violence, most notably¹² the Rwandan genocide of 1994 in which some 800,000 people were killed. Long-standing civil wars in Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Uganda have also caused much suffering.

Countries of the Great Lakes region are among the poorest in the world. According to conference statistics, the average gross national income per capita in 2005 for the 11 countries was $485.

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

3 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

4 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

5 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

6 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

7 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。

8 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

9 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

10 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

11 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

12 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。