VOA常速英语2007-Report: African Conflicts Cost $300 Billion in P

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
11 October 2007

Fifteen years of conflict on the African continent have cost Africa an estimated $300 billion, which is the amount of foreign aid received during the same period. This is the assessment¹ of a new report calling for a strong international treaty on the international arms trade. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from Johannesburg.

The report was compiled by the Oxfam donor² organization and two arms control groups.

The Africa coordinator³ for the International Action Network on Small Arms, Joseph Dube, says the document underscores just how devastating⁴ war has been for Africa. "Some of the things that are coming out of the report indicate how some governments, individual leaders in Africa have benefited from these conflicts and how it [conflict] has undermined health, has undermined education," he said.

The report says that in the 15 years from 1990 until 2005 conflicts in 23 African countries cost nearly $300 billion, or an average of $18 billion per year.

It states that in these countries gross domestic product declined by an average of 15 percent per year.

When compared to the rest of the continent, war-ravaged nations recorded 50 percent more infant deaths and 15 percent more malnourished people. They also experienced a 20 percent reduction in adult literacy and a decline of five years in life expectancy⁵.

The report says its figures underestimate the real toll⁶, because they do not include the side-effects of war, such as the years of recovery needed and war's effect on neighbors through political insecurity, disruption of trade and the influx⁷ of refugees.

The report adds that 95 percent of the arms used in African conflicts are made outside the continent. Dube says as a result one effective tool would be a treaty regulating the international arms trade.

"We have seen a lot of international agreements coming out and most of them have not been legally binding⁸ and I think that is why a lot of governments and even traders in small arms have got away with murder," he said.

Delegates to the United Nations are discussing an arms trade treaty. Supporters want a strong treaty that will prohibit the transfer by governments or private individuals of arms that are likely to be used to commit human rights violations⁹ or violate international law such as an arms embargo¹⁰.

They want to ensure that arms are sold only for purposes such as defense¹¹, policing, and peacekeeping.

A group of experts selected by the U.N. secretary-general is to meet next year to determine the scope of such a treaty.

1 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

2 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。

3 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？

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

6 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

7 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

8 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

9 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

10 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。