VOA慢速英语2015 WHO Names First Woman as Africa Director

AS IT IS 2015-02-12 WHO Names First Woman as Africa Director

The World Health Organization has appointed a new regional director for Africa. For the first time, the director is a woman.

Matshidiso Moeti promises to shake up the office, or make changes for the better. She says she plans to make the regional office more effective in dealing² with traditional and new diseases³.

Dr. Moeti has more than 35 years of national and international experience in the field of health. She says she sees her appointment with a mix of pleasure and purpose. But she also says that appointing a woman to this position is long overdue⁴, meaning it should have happened sooner.

“I am very happy and proud to be the first woman. But, I also agree that it was ... it was overdue in a sense. And yes, I am very excited and I am looking forward to the opportunity. I do recognize that the challenges are great and that they would have been considerable⁵ even if we hadn’t had this Ebola outbreak, which has turned out to be such a tragedy in West Africa.”

As Ebola cases and deaths in West Africa increased, so did criticism⁶ of the slow reaction of WHO's Africa office. The office was held partly responsible for the fast spread of Ebola.

The WHO describes Dr. Moeti as someone who does not back away from difficult problems. But even she says that the job ahead of her is huge.

Helping⁷ countires hit by Ebola recover

Dr. Moeti says it is very important to help Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. These countries will require continued support as they recover from the Ebola epidemic⁸. She says they need to strengthen their preparedness systems to deal with similar emergencies in the future.

Dr. Moeti says one of her main goals is to speed reforms in Africa. She says much has been learned⁹ from the failures and successes connected with the Ebola outbreak.

So, she plans to first re-structure the size of the response teams and their skills. She says they must be able to react quickly.

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti's professional history and managing style

Dr. Moeti joined WHO’s Africa Regional Office in 1999. She has had many different jobs, including deputy¹⁰ regional director. She will lead a team of 2,400 employees in the 47-country Africa region¹.

Dr. Moeti says she considers herself to be a firm but fair leader. She says she supports an open environment where her employees are able to be creative. But, Dr. Moeti adds she expects people to provide results and have answers for their actions.The Africa Regional Office is in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo. Dr. Moeti says she will leave for the city soon.

The Africa Regional Office is in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo. Dr. Moeti says she will leave for the city soon.

Words in This Story

shake up – v. to make important changes or series of changes in the way a company or other organization is organized or run. Shake-up as a noun¹¹ is hyphenated.

overdue – adj. something that should have happened or been done before now

opportunity – n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done

challenge – n.  a difficult task or problem: something that is hard to do

response – n. something that is done as a reaction to something else

1 region   

n.地区，地带，区域；范围，幅度

参考例句：

• The students went to study the geology of that region.学生们去研究那个地区的地质情况。
• It is unusual to see snow in this region.这个地区难得见到雪。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

4 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

5 considerable   

a.相当多的，相当大的，相当重要的

参考例句：

• He saved the child at considerable risk to himself. 他冒着极大的生命危险救了那个孩子。
• The flood resulted in a considerable reduction in production. 这次水灾造成相当大的减产。

6 criticism   

n.批评，批判，指责；评论，评论文章

参考例句：

• Some youth today do not allow any criticism at all.现在有些年轻人根本指责不得。
• It is wrong to turn a deaf ear to other's criticism.对别人的批评充耳不闻是错误的。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

9 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

10 deputy   

n.代理人，代表，副职；adj.代理的，副的

参考例句：

• John will act as a deputy for me during my absence.我离开期间，约翰将代理我的职务。
• She is the deputy headmistress of the school.她是那所学校的代理校长。

11 noun   

n.名词

参考例句：

• What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词？
• This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。