VOA标准英语2009年-US Envoy to Sudan Returns for Darfur Meeti

U.S. special envoy¹ to Sudan Scott Gration returns to the African nation Wednesday for a five day visit. Gration heads to Sudan to continue his mediation² of North-South negotiations³ and to travel to the devastated⁴ western region of Darfur.
　
US special envoy to Sudan J. Scott Gration arrives at the Sudanese foreign ministry⁵ for meetings with officials after his arrival in Khartoum, Sudan (File)

Ambassador Gration will be making his first stop in Juba, where he will be mediating⁶ discussions between representatives of the North's National Congress Party and the South's Sudan People's Liberation Movement.

The talks are a continuation of U.S.-facilitated negotiations that have been ongoing⁷ since June. Last month the discussions yielded a signed document resolving a number of the remaining disputes over the implementation⁸ of the peace agreement signed in 2005.

The U.S. envoy will then travel to Darfur to meet with representatives of the Darfuri people, including people living in camps for the internally-displaced, as well as leaders of Darfuri civil society groups. He will also talk with the new commander of the joint⁹ United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force, Rwandan General Patrick Nyambumba.

His trip's final destination will be Khartoum, where he plans to meet with the African Union delegation¹⁰ on Darfur headed by former South African president Thabo Mbeki. The group of former African heads of states is to report its recommendations on resolving the Darfur crisis next week.

Speaking to the Sudanese Radio Omdurman during his visit last month, Gration previewed his upcoming task in this month's North-South talks.

"We have two issues where we need to have further work, consultation," he said. "And that's on the census¹¹ and the referendum. And so we will continue working with the NCP [National Congress Party] and the SPLM [Sudan People's Liberation Movement] to reach agreement on these remaining issues."

The South's independence referendum scheduled for early 2011 was one of the core components¹² of the peace deal which ended the two-decade-long civil war. The legitimacy¹³ of the national census results continues to be a point of contention¹⁴ because those numbers are to be used in determining constituencies and regional powers in the elections scheduled for April 2010.

The U.S. envoy also forcasted his upcoming meetings in Darfur.

"Probably the most important piece is giving voice to the civil society," added Gration. "We are working with diaspora leadership, we are working with leadership in the IDP camps and in the refugee camps, and we are working with other organizations that represent the people of Darfur, [as well as] the Zaghawa, the Fur, and other tribes, to ensure that everybody has a voice in the process."

Gration, a Swahili-speaking former U.S. Air Force general who grew up in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, was appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama in March as the special envoy to Sudan.

Gration met then-Senator Obama in 2005 and then accompanied the senator during his high profile visit to Kenya in 2006. He later served as a foreign policy advisor¹⁵ for the Obama presidential campaign.

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 mediating   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的现在分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• So many factors are mediating. 如此众多的因素在起作用。
• The contrast in mediating noted in the sitting room. 客厅中注重了调和中的对比。

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 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。

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

10 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

11 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。

12 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

13 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

14 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

15 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。