2006年VOA标准英语-UN Diplomats, Experts Prioritize Global Challen

By Peter Heinlein
United Nations
27 October 2006

If you had an extra $50 billion to put to good use, which problems would you solve first? That is the question United Nations ambassadors and senior officials are asking themselves at a conference under way in New York. From U.N. headquarters, VOA's Peter Heinlein reports, the group is analyzing¹ and prioritizing 10 critical global challenges.

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Copenhagen Consensus² 2006  
  

The 35 ambassadors and 20 senior U.N. officials are being asked to choose where they could do the most good, if they had $50 billion to spend.

The 10 choices include: global climate change, communicable diseases, conflicts, education, government corruption³, malnutrition⁴ and hunger, population, water and sanitation⁵, and finally, subsidies⁶ and trade barriers.

The U.N. conference is a follow-up to the work of a group of Nobel laureates and other eminent⁷ economists⁸, who did a comparative cost-benefit analysis of the world's most pressing problems. The result, known as the Copenhagen Consensus, recommends prioritizing challenges to get the best value for money spent.

 
Bjorn Lomborg
  
Danish professor and Director of the Copenhagen Consensus Bjorn Lomborg is leading the conference. He says ambassadors and decision-makers are being asked to make tough choices that will change their thinking about solving the world's biggest challenges.

"Once you force yourself to make a prioritized list, it really does make you change the way you think," he said. "It also means we get a list that's, if not uniquely representative of the U.N, certainly is indicative of what the U.N. is thinking is important issues and not so important issues. So, we identify clusters of things where you can do lots of good, and most U.N. parties would say, this is what we should focus on first."

Lomborg says the Nobel prize-winning economists, who did a comparative cost-benefit analysis, determined⁹ that the most cost-effective programs are in health and nutrition.

"They came out and told us, 'the very best thing you can do in the world is invest in prevention of HIV/AIDS.' For every dollar you spend on preventing HIV/AIDS, you do about $40 of social good," he said. "That is a very good investment. The number two was, invest in malnutrition through micronutrients, essentially¹⁰ give vitamin pills to the world. More than half the world suffers some sort of malnutrition from micronutrients. It's very cheap. For every dollar we spend, we do $30 worth of social good."

The choices facing decision-makers are controversial, because other priorities, such as combating climate change, have proven to be less cost-effective. Lomborg says the challenge facing organizations like the United Nations is to get the most from the resources available.

"In a perfect world, I would agree, we should fix all problems, we should fix climate change and malnutrition and civil war and illiteracy¹¹ and all the other problems afflicting¹² the world," he said. "Absolutely. I would love to live in that world. But we don't, and we have a moral responsibility to realize that, if we live in the real world, and say we don't fix all problems, then shouldn't we at least try to fix the ones where we can do the most good first."

The conference has attracted ambassadors from both rich and poor countries, as well as top experts from all U.N. agencies concerned with health, education and development. The group plans to issue a list of its priorities next week.

1 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

2 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？

3 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。

4 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

5 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。

6 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 eminent   

adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的

参考例句：

• We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
• He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

8 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

10 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

11 illiteracy   

n.文盲

参考例句：

• It is encouraging to read that illiteracy is declining.从读报中了解文盲情况正在好转，这是令人鼓舞的。
• We must do away with illiteracy.我们必须扫除文盲。

12 afflicting   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• Violent crime is only one of the maladies afflicting modern society. 暴力犯罪仅仅是困扰现代社会的严重问题之一。
• Violent crime is only one of the maladies afflicting modern society. 暴力犯罪仅仅是危害社会的弊病之一。