世界银行行长呼吁改善贫困地区卫生和教育状况

World Bank Head Calls for Business-like Effort on Health, Education

The fight against poverty needs to work aggressively on improving the health and education of young people and the defenseless.

That was the opinion of non-government organization and development officials who spoke¹ at the Milken Institute Global Conference. The meeting took place earlier this month in Los Angeles, California.

One speaker was World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. He said that social unrest will spread without increasing attention to basic human needs. He said dealing² with humanitarian³ causes should be businesslike.

His comments come at a time when China is becoming more active in international development and the World Bank is preparing a rating of nations to show their investments in people.

One in 10 people worldwide lives in extreme poverty. The World Bank defines extreme poverty as earning less than $1.90 a day. Nearly 6 million children under the age of 5 die every year. Many of those deaths are from preventable diseases, like pneumonia⁴, diarrhea or malaria⁵.

Poor nutrition, undersized growth, and cognitive⁶ impairment affect more than 150 million young children around the world. They live mainly in South Asia and African countries south of the Sahara Desert. The World Bank president said that failure to deal with these problems leaves citizens unprepared for the automated⁷ economy of the future.

In Afghanistan, half of all young children develop at a slower rate than other children. And in Indonesia, one in three children are underdeveloped.

Jim Young Kim told the conference that the numbers are improving, but not fast enough.

“Many, many, many people will find themselves undereducated and without the skills to be able to compete in the economy of the future and so many countries are going to go down the path of fragility, conflict, violence, and then of course, extremism and migration⁸. That's going to happen if we don't change the mindset.”

Kim said the thinking has to change. Too often, he said, national leaders and finance ministers want investments in “roads and railways and industrial parks.” Kim said they often ignore studies that show links among health, education and productivity.

The World Bank plans to release a nation-by-nation rating measuring health and education in October. Kim said the report will push world leaders to consider social investments more seriously.

Rajiv Shah is president of the Rockefeller Foundation, a private group. He told the conference that some countries have had great success in fighting disease and improving child education.

“When you look at countries like Rwanda, they’ve achieved a 70 percent reduction in child mortality in just one decade. So, we know that nations can be successful. What it takes, though, is more political will, more focus on science and technology.”

Shah said improvements in health and education produce measurable economic results. “A dollar invested in community health generates $7 to $10 dollars in economic value,” he said. He added that improving the health of children and reducing child deaths results in families having fewer children and investing more in their education.

In recent years, China has joined the United States as a major development lender and donor⁹. China has provided loans and aid to 140 countries. Experts estimate that China has given more than $350 billion over a 14-year period.

In March, China announced creation of a new aid agency, called the International Development Cooperation Agency. Its purpose is to direct the country’s overseas development efforts.

Critics say the Chinese loans and aid come with fewer restrictions¹⁰ than those required by Western agencies. They note that Western countries are more concerned about corruption¹¹, governance and human rights.

Another goal of the agency is to work in support of China’s Belt and Road project. The aim is to improve roads and other infrastructure¹² in neighboring countries as a way to expand trade and extend Chinese influence in the area.

Last year, the World Bank provided nearly $59 billion to transportation and energy projects, refugee resettlement and basic needs like health and education.

Kim said all are important, and directing more attention on people is good for business.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

achieve – v. to get or reach something by working hard

automated – n. run or operated by using machines, computers, etc., instead of people to do the work

cognitive impairment – n. a state in which a person has trouble

remembering, learning new things, concentrating, or making decisions that affect their everyday life

focus – n. a subject that is being discussed or studied : the subject on which people's attention is focused

fragility – n. the manner in which something is easily broken or destroyed

generate – v. to produce something or cause something to be produced

malnutrition¹³ – n. the unhealthy condition that results from not eating enough food or not eating enough healthy food; poor nutrition

mortality – n. the quality or state of being a person or thing that is alive and therefore certain to die; the quality or state of being mortal

 

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 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。

3 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。

4 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

5 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

6 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

7 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

8 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

9 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。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

13 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。