美国国家公共电台 NPR--Taliban rulers ban women from working at non-governmental organizations

Taliban rulers ban women from working at non-governmental organizations

Transcript¹

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, about the Taliban's decision to ban women from working at NGOs.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

On a visit to Afghanistan last summer, we naturally did all we could to hear from women. Many girls were out of school. Many women were pushed out of the workplace, but some still worked and others held out hope. More than one told us they had applied² for jobs at international NGOs, nongovernmental organizations, which insisted on employing women as they had before. Now the Taliban, who rule Afghanistan, have banned women from working there, too. One of the affected³ groups is the Norwegian Refugee Council, which has suspended its operations in Afghanistan. Its secretary general is Jan Egeland, who's on the line via Skype. Welcome to the program, sir.

JAN EGELAND: Thank you.

INSKEEP: I will mention that I heard a lot about the Norwegian Refugee Council's work when in Afghanistan a few months ago. What were you doing there?

EGELAND: Well, we were working across the country, and we have been working there for decades. So we have 1,400 aid workers on the ground. We provide shelter, water, sanitation⁴, food, emergency services and education, primary education to boys and girls. We're all over the country. And we were there before the takeover, and we were there after the takeover of the Taliban. Up until this point, we've done our work.

INSKEEP: What role did women play in all of that?

EGELAND: Essential - essential, as they do all over the world. We have 470 hard-working, committed, qualified⁵ female aid workers. They are the ones who are the contact with women and children in Afghanistan. There is a lot of single-mother households, for example. They are the only ones who can contact them. So when the Taliban tell us to only work with males, it is the same as saying you cannot continue because we will not continue. We cannot continue with males only.

INSKEEP: You must have had a debate, though, about whether to try continuing to do what little you could do without women. Did you have to have some discussion about this?

EGELAND: Yeah, well, we did. We did, but then it took a few minutes to analyze⁶ this, and we then said there are two reasons we cannot do it. One is that the quality of our work would drop immediately, and we couldn't even reach directly women. So that was a red line for us. The other one was also we would disintegrate⁷ as a principled and good organization and a good employer. If some organizations now, which I would really recommend against, stumble along with males only, they would set a horrific precedence for all of us. So I would really warn against that.

INSKEEP: I want to mention that before the last few weeks, it seemed like the question of women and girls in Afghanistan was moving in a positive direction, by which I mean even though the Taliban had banned girls from many levels of school, there was clearly a kind of democratic debate and democratic insistence⁸ on this in many parts of the country. Many localities had allowed girls back in school. It seemed like some progress was being made against the resistance of the government, but that has clearly changed. The government has cracked down in new ways. Is there a way to push back on this?

EGELAND: Yes. This has to be revoked¹⁰, rescinded¹¹, reversed completely. It's been a bad couple of months now. Women was - were not allowed to go to university any more. Some regions, we've had progress. Some regions have been much more difficult. We're now going province by province and negotiating. We hope to resume work with male and female workforce¹² working equally. We will completely adhere to the traditional - traditions of using the hijab, of separating males and females in the workplace, even having male guardians¹³ on longer travel. Those traditions we adhered to. But this ban is un-Islamic, it's un-Afghan, it's something we have to fight.

INSKEEP: Are you hearing, as is true with schools, with girls in school, are you hearing even from some more conservative members of society who are acknowledging this is a mistake?

EGELAND: We understand that this is hotly debated in in the Taliban. I met with them in Kabul and other places in Afghanistan. I met with them as they came to Oslo. They promised that females would be able to work with us. They promised education for girls. They have really gone back on their word here. And we hope that common sense will prevail. And we urge everybody who have influence on the Taliban to help us revoke⁹ this.

INSKEEP: Very briefly¹⁴, have you heard any formal response to your decision to shut down from the government?

EGELAND: No, not yet. But we hear that they are willing to now discuss with the U.N. how to possible reach a compromise.

INSKEEP: Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, thank you very much.

EGELAND: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

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 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。

5 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

6 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

7 disintegrate   

v.瓦解，解体，（使）碎裂，（使）粉碎

参考例句：

• The older strata gradually disintegrate.较老的岩层渐渐风化。
• The plane would probably disintegrate at that high speed.飞机以那么高速飞行也许会四分五裂。

8 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

9 revoke   

v.废除，取消，撤回

参考例句：

• The university may revoke my diploma.大学可能吊销我的毕业证书。
• The government revoked her husband's license to operate migrant labor crews.政府撤销了她丈夫管理外来打工人群的许可证。

10 revoked   

adj.[法]取消的v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It may be revoked if the check is later dishonoured. 以后如支票被拒绝支付，结算可以撤销。 来自辞典例句
• A will is revoked expressly. 遗嘱可以通过明示推翻。 来自辞典例句

11 rescinded   

v.废除，取消( rescind的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Rescinded civil acts shall be null and void from the very beginning. 被撤销的民事行为从行为开始起无效。 来自互联网
• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan. 他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。 来自互联网

12 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

13 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

14 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。