VOA常速英语2007-Chissano Awarded African Leadership Prize

By Tendai Maphosa
London
22 October 2007

Former Mozambique President Joachim Chissano is the first recipient¹ of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African leadership. Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan made the announcement in London. Tendai Maphosa has this report from there for VOA.

Joachim Chissano becomes the first former African leader to be awarded the $5 million Mo Ibrahim Foundation's Prize for Achievement in African leadership. The prize recognizes an African leader who was freely elected, and stepped down at the end of his or her constitutional term over the past three years.

Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan chaired the selection committee. He praised Mr. Chissano, citing economic progress, infrastructure² development and the tackling of HIV/AIDS during his presidency³.

But Mr. Annan said it was for his role in leading Mozambique from conflict to democracy that Mr. Chissano made his most outstanding contribution.

"It is a measure of the change that has taken place, that national and regional elections have been contested in a generally peaceful manner by both sides in the bitter civil war," he said. "This remarkable⁴ reconciliation⁵ between opponents provides a shining example to the rest of the world, and it is testament⁶ to both his strength of character and his leadership. "

Mr. Chissano fought in his country's war of independence against the Portuguese⁷. At independence in 1975, he became foreign minister. He took over his country's leadership when President Samora Machel died in a plane crash in 1986.

Mr. Chissano is credited with negotiating an end to the country's 16-year civil war in 1992. The opposition⁸ participated in democratic elections two years later.

The award, the largest philanthropic prize in the world, is the brainchild of Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese-born mobile-phone entrepreneur, who now lives in London. He hopes it will encourage better governance in Africa.

Mr. Chissano will receive $5 million over 10 years, and $200,000 annually⁹ thereafter. An additional $200,000 a year will be given to the winner's public interest activities and good causes.

Critics of the prize argue that leaders should not be rewarded for doing what they are chosen to do anyway. Selection committee member Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala disagrees.

"Africa has had quite a bad rap internationally, in terms of being seen as a continent that does not have good enough leaders," said Okonjo-Iweala. "So, this is one way to show the outside world that we do indeed have men and women, who can step up to the plate and exhibit the kind of leadership that makes all of us proud."

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation also published its first Index of African Governance last month. The index ranks 48 sub-Saharan countries against an index of governance indicators¹⁰. Mauritius topped that list while Somalia was last.

1 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

2 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。

3 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

5 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

6 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

7 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

10 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。