2006年VOA标准英语-UNICEF Warns Situation in Darfur Deteriora

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
26 April 2006

The U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) warns the situation in Sudan's conflict-ridden Darfur province has deteriorated¹ significantly in the past few months.  UNICEF says insecurity, lack of access to needy³ people and lack of funding threaten to erode⁴ gains made by humanitarian⁵ agencies in Darfur.

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Darfur refugees (file photo) 
  

UNICEF reports insecurity in Darfur is so bad that U.N. aid agencies are unable to gain regular access to about 700,000 internally displaced people.  This is about one-third of the nearly two million people who have fled their homes since fighting erupted in 2003.  They are living in U.N.-managed camps.

UNICEF's representative in Sudan, Ted² Chaiban, says the situation is worsening.  He notes in the past three months, 200,000 people have become newly displaced.

"A displacement⁶ of this magnitude is in and of itself a major humanitarian development, let alone adding that to 1.9 million displaced already and 3.6 million conflict affected⁷ in Darfur as well," he said.  "So, it is a significant development and this is really a trend that started in October of 2005, a time when we had relative access and relative calm in Darfur.  So, it has been going on for six months now." 

Chaiban says fighting between the Sudanese-backed Janjaweed militia⁸ and rebel groups has intensified⁹.  He says fighting among the different rebel groups also has increased as they jockey for power.  He says the peace negotiations¹⁰ in Abouja, Nigeria, are prompting all the warring parties to try to consolidate¹¹ their positions before a deal is sealed.

The UNICEF official is making the rounds of European capitals in an effort to drum up support for Darfur.  He says people have lost interest in the crisis and governments are not responding to requests for money. 

He says UNICEF's $89 million appeal has only received $15 million.  He warns UNICEF only has enough money to sustain life-saving operations until early June.  Then the agency will be forced to cut programs to the detriment¹² of women and children.

"It is extremely worrying," he added.  "We are starting to see this creeping up of malnutrition¹³ figures.  We are having to cut back on services and cut back on services for a population that is entirely¹⁴ dependent on us, because it is displaced for its own protection.  Over time, that does result in higher morbidity¹⁵ rates, higher mortality rates and higher malnutrition rates.  There is no doubt.  And, that is why we are raising the alarm now.  I do not want to be sitting here nine months from now saying 'it happened.'  I would rather be sitting here nine months from now saying we reacted and it did not happen." 

A UNICEF report shows global acute malnutrition rates in Darfur in 2004 stood at nearly 22 percent.  It says a huge humanitarian effort cut those rates by more than half in 2005.

Chaiban says the humanitarian crisis that was controlled last year will certainly return and erode the progress made unless the international community responds to the urgent needs.

1 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

4 erode   

v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失

参考例句：

• Once exposed,soil is quickly eroded by wind and rain.一旦暴露在外，土壤很快就会被风雨侵蚀。
• Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

5 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。

6 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

7 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。

8 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

9 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

11 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

12 detriment   

n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源

参考例句：

• Smoking is a detriment to one's health.吸烟危害健康。
• His lack of education is a serious detriment to his career.他的未受教育对他的事业是一种严重的妨碍。

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。

14 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

15 morbidity   

n.病态；不健全；发病；发病率

参考例句：

• MC's also significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality induced by honeybee venom. 肥大细胞同样也能显著降低蜜蜂毒液诱发疾病的发病率和死亡率。 来自互联网
• The result shows that incidence of myopia morbidity is 44.84%. 结果表明：近视眼的发病率为44.84%。 来自互联网