VOA常速英语2007-UN General Assembly Annual Debate Concludes

By Margaret Besheer
United Nations
03 October 2007

The U.N. General Assembly wrapped up its annual debate Wednesday. Climate change and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East dominated the debate. From U.N. headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.

Nearly 100 heads of state and governments and some 80 foreign ministers addressed the general assembly during the seven days of the annual debate.

Responding to the challenges of climate change was the theme of the 62nd General Assembly, and this year's president, Srgjan Kerim, says nations need to be on "high alert."

"Responding to the challenge of climate change, you have resent a strong political message that the time for talk has passed, and the time for action has begun," said Srgjan Kerim. "I believe an important shift has taken place. Climate change has become the flagship issue of the 62nd session."

On the political front, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made resolving the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan one of the United Nations' highest priorities. He recently made a visit to the war-torn area and hosted a high-level meeting devoted¹ to Darfur on the sidelines of the General Assembly.

Darfur and the upcoming deployment² of a 26,000 - strong U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force to the region dominated the annual debate. On Wednesday, Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol addressed the assembly and reaffirmed his government's commitment to resolving that crisis at peace talks later this month.

"We further reiterate³ our full readiness for the peace talks in Libya scheduled to take place on October 27, 2007," said Lam Akol. "We call from this forum⁴ on all the rebel movements in Darfur to join the peace march without delay, and to cease hostilities⁵ forthwith in response to the repeated calls of the Sudan government. "

Several important meetings took place on the sidelines of the annual gathering⁶, including talks on the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the Middle East peace process.

The recent government crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in Burma received widespread condemnation⁷ from the gathering. U.S. President George Bush used his speech on the first day of the general assembly to announce new economic sanctions against Burma's military government, while the Secretary-General dispatched his special envoy⁸ to the region on an emergency mission.

As the annual debate came to a close, U.N. General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim reminded the gathering that the assembly is the only forum where many of these issues can be dealt with comprehensively, and he said it is up to the member states to take the necessary action on these pressing issues.

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

2 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

3 reiterate   

v.重申，反复地说

参考例句：

• Let me reiterate that we have absolutely no plans to increase taxation.让我再一次重申我们绝对没有增税的计划。
• I must reiterate that our position on this issue is very clear.我必须重申我们对这一项议题的立场很清楚。

4 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

5 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

6 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

7 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

8 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。