美国国家公共电台 NPR--Russia's invasion of Ukraine has pushed Somalia towards famine

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has pushed Somalia towards famine

Transcript¹

Russia and Ukraine previously² provided nearly all of Somalia's wheat. Now, the country is on the brink³ of famine.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Hundreds of thousands of people in Somalia are facing famine. Binyam Gebru works with Save the Children in Somalia. He says organizations like his need one thing to help Somalis on the brink of starvation.

BINYAM GEBRU: We need money because currently, the markets are working. There is still food, which is expensive, but the markets are working. So we need a lot of resources. The U.N. has made an appeal of 1.5 billion to avert⁴ famine. That's the initial estimate. With the current increase in number of people affected⁵ by drought, we are likely to need more.

MARTIN: You heard Gebru say the free market in Somalia is working. That means, though, that the cost of food is rising and more people go hungry. Hunger in Somalia has more than one cause, of course - droughts that last longer and happen more frequently, and Russia's war in Ukraine, which cut Somalia off from one of its main international food sources. Gebru's appeals for more resources haven't yet worked.

GEBRU: I think partly there is a donor⁶ fatigue⁷.

MARTIN: With so much attention on devastation⁸ elsewhere in the world, he says Somalia's crisis just hasn't been at the top of donors⁹' minds. Gebru told our co-host Leila Fadel the country doesn't even have enough hospital beds to care for its malnourished children.

GEBRU: Health facilities require support because they're at their breaking point in many places. You know, children who are severe malnutrition¹⁰, they get admitted in existing beds, and then most of the beds are already full. Children are admitted, you know, under sheds, open spaces, even offices are used for treatment of children with severe acute malnutrition.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

So there's no space for kids who are malnourished in the hospitals anymore.

GEBRU: Absolutely. Absolutely. The caseload is way higher than what the existing facilities can hold.

FADEL: What specifically are families dealing¹¹ with, choices people are having to make when they're faced with a lack of food, a lack of water?

GEBRU: People in places in the south, they sell off their available cattles to feed the children. And these are normally the source of milk for children. And unfortunately, in those severely¹² affected regions, most families have lost their cattles. Somalia overall has lost 300 million cattles, which is way higher than other neighboring countries - out of the 7 million, which the region has lost. These are a source of food, a source of livelihood¹³. So they can't even have their cattles to be sold.

FADEL: So they're having to make a choice between their long-term livelihood with the cattle and selling them off to immediately feed their families.

GEBRU: Absolutely. On top of that, people have to travel up to three days, you know, with children to areas which are not occupied by extreme organization which has occupied, you know, a large swath of territory in the south and central region, which is mainly affected by the drought. So parents have to travel with the kids for four to three days to reach where, you know, support is provided. And along the way, they lose children from dehydration¹⁴, starvation.

FADEL: How has it gotten this bad? Would you draw a connection to climate change, to Russia's war in Ukraine and the famine in Somalia?

GEBRU: Somalia used to experience droughts every five to six years in the past. Now it has become every three years. It has become more substantive¹⁵, and it becomes also very severe. Ukraine has taken, you know, the attention of the international donor community almost totally. And the crisis in Somalia, as well as in the Horn, has been neglected. And, yeah, climate is, of course, the main culprit. And then Somalia - its contribution to global warming or carbon emission¹⁶ is insignificant¹⁷, but the brunt is borne by the country, particularly the women, children of Somalia.

So the drought is a cause of the climate crisis, which Somalia is not necessarily contributing to. I think Western countries, which contribute significantly to that, should have a responsibility to support and, you know, bail¹⁸ Somalia out. Now Ukraine has come - the additional layer of the situation, making the situation worse because food crisis has increased. Somalia depends on its, you know, wheat import on Russia and Ukraine - up to 95%. The war in Ukraine has contributed to the current crisis directly and also indirectly¹⁹.

FADEL: So what could the U.S. do if the Biden administration wanted to help alleviate²⁰ some of this suffering?

GEBRU: Yeah, I think they should pay equal attention to the crisis in the Horn. Here, we are looking at - in a country which is heading toward a famine situation and hundreds of thousands of people are likely to die from starvation in front of our eyes, where you can really do something now and - but it's a - I think the U.S. should make Somalia a priority - you know? - the same as probably Ukraine. Because in terms of human deaths and casualties, where - is much bigger number we are looking at here.

Children who do not contribute to any of this are the ones suffering most, and they are dying in front of our eyes. You know, we - in our health facilities where we treat children with severe acute malnutrition, we lost eight children in one month alone. And admission rate has tripled, you know, compared to the same time last year. And then these children, if they don't get treatment, they will die. Time is running out, but we can still really - with a concerted effort and enough resources, we can save lives.

FADEL: Binyam Gebru is with Save the Children in Somalia. Thank you so much for your time.

GEBRU: It's a pleasure.

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 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

4 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

5 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。

6 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

7 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

8 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

13 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

14 dehydration   

n.脱水，干燥

参考例句：

• He died from severe dehydration.他死于严重脱水。
• The eyes are often retracted from dehydration.眼睛常因脱水而凹陷。

15 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

16 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

17 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

18 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

19 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

20 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。