VOA标准英语2011--Aid Agencies Reassess Somali Operations

Aid Agencies Reassess Somali Operations

 

Sixteen aid agencies say they face new challenges in Somalia, after the al Shabab militant¹ group banned their activities in the southern and central parts of the country. Al Shabab accuses the agencies of bias² and misconduct.

One of the organizations affected³ by the ban is the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR.

“Like a lot of the other agencies, we’re assessing the situation both in terms of implications on the ground and the implications for our operations,” said Andy Needham, spokesman for the Somalia office.

Bad to worse?

This year southern and central Somalia were hit hard by drought and famine, along with conflict. Now, there’s another problem.

“There have been heavy rains of late, which is I guess ironic⁴ for maybe some people to comprehend in the wake of all this talk about drought and famine. But these are seasonal⁵ rains. So what this has done is it has compounded the difficulties for the IDPs living in settlements, for example, in Mogadishu. So what we’ve actually seen is that we have entire settlements, where people are in tents and shelters, have been kind of washed out. And the heavy rains are flowing through the places where people are living,” he said.

Fighters of the al Shabab militant group.

And Needham says there’s not much that can be done about it.

“Because they’re living cheek by jowl, so close that it’s impossible even to dig channels so that the water can get out. So there have been pretty miserable⁶ conditions when the rains come. When the temperature drops and the rains come, we saw in previous years that that had a bad effect in terms of increased numbers of deaths through hypothermia, especially among children,” said Needham.

Can’t get there

Even before al Shabab banned many aid groups, the rains had already brought their humanitarian⁷ efforts to a standstill. Many roads are impassable in southern and central Somalia.

“What we’re hearing from people on the ground is that some certain towns and villages are actually effectively completely cut off for food deliveries. And even people, if they have means, if they have some small amounts of money, they actually can’t buy anything because people cannot travel to these towns because of the roads and perhaps fear of being caught up in some sort of ongoing⁸ clash,” he said.

Al Shabab has allowed some aid groups to remain, namely Doctors Without Borders and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

In neighboring Kenya, insecurity continues to disrupt UNHCR operations at the Dadaab refugee camp. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis find shelter there. However, the insecurity has brought a halt to the registration⁹ and health check of new arrivals.

And in Ethiopia, at the Dollo Ado refugee camps, the U.N. agency reports high rates of severe acute malnutrition¹⁰ among children under age five.

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

5 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

6 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

7 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

8 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。

9 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

10 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。