VOA常速英语2008年-After Decades of Delay, Sudan Ready to Conduct

By Sabina Castelfranco
Khartoum
14 March 2008

With just one month to go before a scheduled nationwide population and housing census¹ ahead of 2009 general elections in Sudan, U.N. officials and regional leaders are confident they will succeed. But they admit there may be some delays and inaccuracies, especially in the war-ravaged Darfur. Sabina Castlefranco reports for VOA from Khartoum.

Sudan needs to conduct a nationwide census before scheduled general elections can be held next year. For a number of reasons, including waiting for the north-south peace process to be concluded and the huge number of internally displaced people by two decades of civil war, the census planned for 2003 has been repeatedly delayed.

According to U.N. figures, 4.6 million people were displaced largely from southern Sudan. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 between north and south Sudan brought an end to the conflict.

The chief of public information for the U.N. Mission in Sudan, Khaled Mansour, says that since then, there has been a steady and voluntary return of internally displaced people.

"We believe over the last three years close to two million people have already returned, either refugees from the seven neighboring countries or displaced people largely from the north and they returned south," said Mansour.

At this stage, Mansour says he is confident the census will go ahead. He says the mapping of enumeration² areas has been under way for some time and the U.N. has begun delivering materials. He adds that Sudanese will be counted wherever they are on the night of the 14th - 15th April and they will indicate where they come from.

"I think the census will happen," he said. "I hope it happens everywhere in the country and it becomes a success. It's very important because it's a step, it's a milestone³ of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in the sense that the more acts you take in implementation⁴ of the peace agreement, the more credibility and trust you have from the people."

The population count in Sudan will end April 30. While other attempts were made in 1973, 1983 and 1993, this year's will be the country's first all inclusive nationwide census effort since the country gained independence in 1956. Officials say it will require huge efforts by the government in terms of mobilization of resources.

One critical area where observers agree it will be extremely difficult to carry out the census is Darfur, where hundreds of thousands have yet to return to their villages. But the governor of Northern Darfur State, Osman Yousef Kibir, says arrangements have been made for the census to go ahead.

Kibir admits there may be some errors and inaccuracies due to difficulties in access to some of the areas, but this will not have a great effect on the result of the census.

He says the Sudanese government is in control of the areas around the three capitals of the three Darfur states, Al Fashir, Njala and El Geneina, where most of the camps of internally displaced people are based.

1 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

2 enumeration   

n.计数，列举；细目；详表；点查

参考例句：

• Predictive Categoriesinclude six categories of prediction, namely Enumeration, Advance Labeling, Reporting,Recapitulation, Hypotheticality, and Question. 其中预设种类又包括列举(Enumeration)、提前标示(Advance Labeling)、转述(Reporting)、回顾(Recapitulation)、假设(Hypotheticality)和提问(Question)。 来自互联网
• Here we describe a systematic procedure which is basically "enumeration" in nature. 这里介绍一个本质上是属于“枚举法”的系统程序。 来自辞典例句

3 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

4 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。