Leaders of the world's advanced economies have been meeting with counterparts from some of the world's poorest African nations on the first day of the G8 summit in northern Japan. The G8 leaders are facing criticism for failing to come through on promises they made to Africa's neediest inhabitants.
星期一，在日本北部召开的工业化八国集团峰会上，发达国家领导人和一些非洲最贫穷国家的首脑们举行了会晤。一些观察人士批评工业化八国没有兑现对非洲贫困人口作出的承诺。
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Monday the main challenges facing the G8 summit are of special importance to Africa.
世界银行行长佐利克星期一说，工业化八国面临的主要挑战对于非洲来说也格外重要。
"Food and fuel, sustenance and energy, malnutrition and health, it does not get more basic than that," he said.
他说：“食品和燃料、生存和能源、营养不良和卫生保健，没有什么比这些问题更加基本的了。”
G8 leaders discussed those themes with invited leaders from eight African nations here in northern Japan, at a secluded resort hotel in Toyako. Two years ago, at a similar gathering in Scotland, the G8 promised to boost aid to Africa to $50 billion per year by 2010.
围绕这些议题，八国集团领导人和应邀出席峰会的八个非洲国家的首脑在北海道渡假地洞爷湖展开了讨论。两年前，在苏格兰举行的八国集团峰会上，与会各国承诺在2010年前把对非州的年度援助增加到500亿美元。
Max Lawson, representing the aid group Oxfam, says only a trickle of that amount, about $3 billion a year, has actually been sent. He says he is closely watching drafts of this summit's final communiqué.
英国慈善机构乐施会的代表麦克斯.劳森说，这笔承诺的援助只有一小部分真正送到了非洲，每年仅为30亿美元左右。他说，他密切关注今年峰会在闭幕前发表的联合声明。
"You can see that the G8 are keen to gradually step away from the promises they made ... to increase aid by 50 billion [dollars]. If we don't see this in the communiqué, then that's the betrayal of a promise," said Lawson.
劳森说：“你可以发现八国集团正在逐渐偏离他们作出的每年500亿美元的承诺。如果今年的联合声明没有就此作出解释的话，这就意味着八国集团背叛了他们的承诺。”
Lawson says ordinary Africans are suffering because of misplaced priorities among rich nations.
劳森认为，由于富裕国家缺乏足够的重视，非洲平民承受了很多痛苦。
Aid groups like Oxfam say international funds help buy life-saving drugs crucial in fighting Africa's epidemics of AIDS and malaria.
包括乐施会在内的一些援助机构认为，国际援款购买的药物对于非洲抗击艾滋病和疟疾的努力至关重要。
Kumi Naidoo, South African head of the group Global Call to Action Against Poverty, is frustrated at the apparent lack of urgency on Africa among wealthy nations.
全球扶贫行动呼吁组织南非办公室负责人库米.内说，富裕国家在非洲问题上缺乏紧迫感让他感到失望。
"If 6,000 people were dying every single day from HIV/AIDS in North America and Europe, would the G8 not have long time ago found the resources and fixed the problem?" asked Naidoo.
他说：“如果北美和欧洲每天都有6千人死于艾滋病的话，八国集团是不是早就找到解决问题的资源了？”
Oliver Buston, with the anti-poverty group One, says soaring food prices are also taking their toll on Africa.
扶贫组织ONE的代表奥利佛.巴斯顿说，飞涨的粮食价格令非洲不堪重负。
"In London, where I'm from, the price of pasta goes up 40 [pence] - it's annoying. But when the price of food goes up 40 percent, and you're living on a dollar a day, it's life threatening," said Buston.
巴斯顿说：“在我的家乡伦敦，当面食的价格上涨40便士的时候，人们感到不快。但是在非洲，当你每天收入不足一美元的时候，如果粮食价格上涨40%的话，这是对基本生存的威胁。”
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, also joining the summit, said Monday the effects of global warming are already harming Africa's agriculture. Aid groups say the drive by large corporations to produce agriculturally derived biofuels in Africa are further squeezing the continent's food supply, while pushing up prices.
联合国秘书长潘基文星期一在峰会上表示，全球气候变化已经对非洲农业造成了影响。此外，援助机构说，大企业用农作物开发生物燃料的做法抬高了粮食价格，进一步威胁到非洲大陆的粮食供应。
Joseph Ssuma, a farmer and activist from Uganda, says the biofuel industry is "easily one of the most threatening interruptions of African production."
乌干达的农场主兼活动人士约瑟夫.素马说，生物燃料很可能是非洲粮食生产受到的最大威胁之一。
"This is slowly exerting pressure on land, and pressure on people who are involved in farming, because it is flagged as an alternative, 'you'll make money.' But the costs that this will bring to people are not clearly articulated," said Ssuma.
他说：“生物燃料缓慢地增加农业用地的压力，同时也增加了生产者的压力，因为生物燃料被描绘为替代能源。有人说，‘生物燃料可以帮助你致富。’但是，开发生物燃料的真正代价并没有讲清楚。”
European Union Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso announced Monday about $1.5 in unused European farm subsidies will now be channeled to Africa. But aid groups and African leaders are hoping for a far more robust aid commitment before the summit ends Wednesday.
欧盟委员会主席巴罗佐星期一宣布，大约15亿美元的欧盟农业补贴剩余将用来援助非洲。不过，国际援助机构和非洲领导人希望此次峰会在星期三闭幕前作出更加慷慨的援助承诺。 |