2006年VOA标准英语-UN Humanitarian Coordinator Visits Uganda

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
31 March 2006

United Nations humanitarian¹ relief coordinator² Jan Egeland is in Uganda as part of a four-nation tour to assess and highlight the security and drought situation in the region.

Jan Egeland  (file photo)   
  
The U.N. official met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni Friday on the issue of the civil war in northern Uganda, where a rebel group called the Lord's Resistance Army has been terrorizing communities for almost two decades.

A report released Thursday by a coalition³ of aid agencies says the rate of violent deaths in northern Uganda is three times higher than that of Iraq, and that more than 25,000 children have been kidnapped during the war.

In recent months, the rebels have expanded their bases and activities from Uganda into the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.

Egeland tells VOA recent threats by President Museveni to send Ugandan troops into the DRC to hunt down the rebels is not the way to solve the problem.

"The time of armies crossing borders to fight on each others' territory should be over," he said. "The Congolese army say that they have now dedicated⁴ a battalion⁵ of soldiers to find and apprehend⁶ the LRA, and in southern Sudan both the new government forces and the U.N. force will try to take and apprehend the LRA fighters. So this is now a regional problem of big proportions and the Security Council therefore has to become even more seized with the matter."

He urges the international community to work with all three countries to demobilize rebel fighters and bring peace to the area.

Egeland arrived in Uganda Thursday, and is scheduled to visit northern Uganda Saturday.

During his 10-day trip, he is also scheduled to visit Sudan, Chad, and Kenya to assess and highlight situations of insecurity and drought in the region.

"Finally I will go to the Horn of Africa where 11 million people are now facing drought and possible famine, and I will be able to launch a humanitarian appeal in Nairobi on their behalf," he said. "We urgently need more resources for our humanitarian work in both northern Uganda, in Darfur, in southern Sudan, and on the Horn of Africa."

Egeland urges regional governments, regional organizations, and foreign donors⁷ to help pastoralists and subsistence farmers in the region to become more food secure and set up irrigation and other systems to cope with the drought.

1 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。

2 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

6 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。

7 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》