2007年VOA标准英语-Liberian President Visits Rwanda, Encourages Wo

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
22 February 2007

Liberia's president is in Rwanda this week, meeting with women parliamentarians from around the world and laying the groundwork for agreements with the Rwandan president. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi.

Ellen Johson Sirleaf, gives a speech during opening ceremony of  Women Parliamentarians International Conference in Kigali, 22 Feb 2007

The international meeting of women parliamentarians opened in Rwanda Thursday with a keynote address from Africa's first elected female head of state Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

In her speech she noted¹ that 48 percent of Rwanda's parliament is comprised of women, the highest percentage in the world.

Rwandan presidential advisor², Richard Sezibera, says Johnson Sirleaf began her address by congratulating the women for making it into parliament.

"She also urged them to use their positions to advance the social life of all Rwandans and Africans in general, but also to advance the cause of gender³ in decision-making and government programs," he said.

Sezibera says having such a high percent of women in his country's parliament has made a huge difference to Rwanda.

"The women parliamentarians have championed a number of innovative⁴ legislation in the area for example, of the fight against gender-based violence, in the different social areas - HIV/AIDS, education for the girl child - and in other national programs, they've been very, very active," he said.

The Liberian president also held talks with her Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame.

Kagame advisor Sezibera says the two discussed "potential areas of cooperation" in the areas of governance, finance and commerce, and security.

Sezibera says there were no agreements signed during this trip, but the two are expected to continue their talks.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected on January 16, 2006 in a country struggling to recover from 14 years of civil war. She was in the United States recently to push for debt forgiveness from Liberia's creditors⁵, such as the World Bank, International Monetary⁶ Fund.

1 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

2 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

3 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

4 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

5 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。