VOA慢速英语2014 在南苏丹的外国援助人员面临压力

 

AS IT IS 2014-10-08 Foreign Aid Workers Under Pressure in South Sudan 在南苏丹的外国援助人员面临压力

The conflict in South Sudan is harming relations between the government and international organizations. Aid groups are helping¹ the millions of South Sudanese who need food, shelter or medical care. And some government officials believe aid workers are doing jobs that locals could do.

南苏丹的冲突正损害政府和国际组织之间的关系。救援组织正在帮助数百万南苏丹人民需要的食物，庇护所或医疗。一些政府官员认为救援人员正在做的工作当地人也可以做。

Last month, South Sudan's labor² minister told all foreign workers in the country to give up their jobs by October 15. Some people believe he was ordering foreigners to leave the country. Foreign aid agencies, diplomats⁴ and businesses have been helping the South Sudan government since before the country declared independence in 2011. They have worked with the government to provide basic services like healthcare and education.

上个月，南苏丹的劳工部长告诉所有在该国的外国工人在十月十五日放弃他们的工作。有些人认为他是在下令让外国人离开该国家。外国的援助机构，外交官和企业自该国家于2011年宣布独立之前一直帮助南苏丹政府。他们与政府协作，提供一些基本服务，如医疗和教育。

The international community criticized the minister's comments, and the government quickly cancelled the order.

国际社会谴责劳工部长的评论，随后政府迅速取消了该命令。

Paul Kumbo is South Sudan's director-general for information. He says the minister's statement was misunderstood.

（Paul Kumbo）是南苏丹的信息部总干事。他说，部长的言论被误解了。

"Some NGOs have taken it wrongly and then they try to blame the government that they chasing the foreigners [away], which is not true."

“一些组织已经错了，然后他们试图指责政府驱逐外国人，这不是真的。”

Mr. Kumbo says relations with foreign workers and aid groups are strong. But he believes more jobs should be given to South Sudanese.

（Kumbo）先生表示政府与外国工人和援助团体的关系都强。但是他认为更多的工作应给予南苏丹人民。

"In any country there are certain positions, like a receptionist, do you need to bring somebody from America to become a receptionist in your office? What about the locals? The nationals? This is the type of work that can be given to the locals."

“在任何一个国家都有一些确切的职位，像一个接待员，你需要把美国人带来成为你办公室的接待员吗？当地的人怎么样？国民？这些工作的类型是可以给当地人的。”

Many foreigners in South Sudan's capital city, Juba, did not believe the order would take effect. But they say it does demonstrate a feeling of growing insecurity from the government. One Western diplomat³ said South Sudan's goal is not to expel the foreign workers, but to control them.

在南苏丹首都朱巴，许多外国人不认为该命令能生效。但是他们表示这确实证明了政府日益增长的不安全感。一位西方外交官称南苏丹的目标不是驱逐外国工人，而是控制他们。

To reach that goal, South Sudan's national assembly is considering a bill to increase supervision⁶ of international organizations. Some observers say the proposal would give the government too much power, which could be abused.

为了达到这个目的，南苏丹国民议会正在考虑一项法案去增加国际组织的监督。一些观察家表示该提案将给予政府过多的权力，可能会被滥用。

Tensions between the two sides have increased over the past 10 months. South Sudanese forces are fighting rebels who have taken control of important parts of the country. Relations worsened in March when South Sudanese officials found weapons in United Nations vehicles traveling to Unity⁵ state. Rebel forces and UN peacekeeping troops are both operating in the area. The UN force is not permitted to ship weapons by road. It later apologized.

双方之间的紧张局势在过去的10个月已经增加。南苏丹的军队正在与已经控制了国家重要区域的叛军战斗。关系在3月份恶化了，当时南苏丹官员发现联合国车辆运载的武器被运到联合地域。叛军和联合国维和部队都在该地区。联合国部队并不被允许通过公路运送武器。后来联合国道歉了。

Nhial Tiitmamer is a researcher with South Sudan's Sudd Institute. He says a breakdown⁷ in communications during incidents like this is partly to blame for the poor relations.

（Nhial Tiitmamer）是南苏丹苏德所的一名研究员。他说，事件发生期间通讯中断，就好像这部分归咎于不好的关系。

"In general, the situation was made worse because the working relationship was not transparent⁸. The way the NGOs were operating was not transparent to the government. The government wanted to be consulted on a number of things, but the NGOs were not in a position to do that."

“总的来说，情况变得更糟，因为工作关系清晰。一些组织操作的方式对政府并不透明。政府希望很多事情能被咨询，但是非政府组织并不将自己置于一个位置去做这些事情。”

A major issue is the desire of aid groups to operate in areas under rebel control. In those areas, many people are displaced and need humanitarian⁹ aid. Toby Lanzer leads UN humanitarian aid efforts in South Sudan. He says relations with the government are the worst he has seen.

一个主要的问题是援助团体渴望在叛军控制下的地区进行操作。在那些地区，许多人流离失所，需要人道主义援助。（Toby Lanzer）领导在南苏丹的联合国人道主义援助。他表示与政府的关系是他见过的最糟糕的。

"I've been here now for over two years and I haven't seen the relationship between the government and international institutions or even embassies or non-governmental organizations be as challenging as it has over the past few months."

“我已经在这里呆了两年了，我从未看到政府和国际机构甚至使馆或非政府组织的关系是这般具有挑战性，如它在过去的几个月里一般。”

Toby Lanzer says he understands that the government is under pressure to end the rebellion. And he says he knows South Sudanese officials are not happy that aid groups are working in areas under the control of rebel forces.

（Toby Lanzer）表示他明白政府处于压力之下要结束叛乱。他说他知道南苏丹的官员们不高兴援助组织叛军控制下的地区工作。

"The deeper issue here is how do you maintain a constructive¹⁰ relationship in situations of internal conflict when you need to be working with all authorities, wherever they are, whether they are part of the government per se or an authority which has established itself where the government is no longer present."

“这里更深层次的问题是你如何在内部冲突的情况下保持一个建设性的关系，当你需要和所有部门一起工作，无论他们在哪里，无论他们是政府本身或是一个已经建立了而政府不再代表的权威。”

Ten thousand people have been killed since the conflict began 10 months ago. More than 1.5 million others have been displaced. Many of them now live in UN refugee camps.

自10个月前冲突开始以来已经造成一万人死亡。超过150万人流离失所。他们中的许多人现在生活在联合国的难民营里。

Words in This Story

relations – n. the way in which two or more people, groups, countries talk to, behave toward and deal with each other

cancel – v. to cause (something) to end or no longer produce a certain effect; to stop (something) from being effective or valid¹¹

diplomat – n. a person who represents his or her country’s government in a foreign country; someone whose work is diplomacy¹²

abuse – v. to treat in a harsh or harmful way

apologize – v. to express regret for doing or saying something wrong; to give or make an apology

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

4 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

7 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

8 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

9 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。

10 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

11 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

12 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。