2007年VOA标准英语-Former Child Soldiers Still at Risk in DR Congo

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
07 March 2007

The United Nations is focusing attention on child soldiers in Africa. One country where children are still feeling the terrible effects of war is the Democratic Republic of Congo. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from our regional bureau in Dakar.

Former Congo child soldiers now receive their lessons in the classroom

In the eastern city, Bukavu, near the border with Rwanda, former child soldiers are getting free language lessons at a facility run by the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF.

The director, Murhabazi Nawegabe, points to a board indicating which militias¹ the children came from.

One young woman used to be a sexual² slave for one of the militias. She says she ran away and wants to stay here.

The director says he hopes Congo's new army will have no children. He says he hopes children in his country will be allowed to have a life with notebooks and pens, rather than guns and grenades.

Nawegabe says the recently-appointed government needs to do more to make sure children can be fully³ rehabilitated⁴. He says many are rejected by their families because of what has happened to them.

U.N. officials say several thousand children are still in armed groups that have yet to be demobilized. They say they are paying close attention to issues surrounding former child soldiers.

The U.N special representative for children and armed conflict is on a week-long visit.

After meeting with top government officials, including the defense⁵ minister, earlier this week, Radhika Coomaraswamy says she is optimistic.

"For the first time, a commitment is being made to deal with these issues very effectively," she says. "I think the issue of children will be kept in the public eye because, if they do not deal with it - especially with the armed children - and do not reintegrate them, possibly these children will become centers of instability."

But, last month, other U.N. officials said they had evidence several hundred children had already been deployed⁶ as soldiers within the country's new post-war army.

1 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

2 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 rehabilitated   

改造（罪犯等）( rehabilitate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使恢复正常生活； 使恢复原状； 修复

参考例句：

• He has been rehabilitated in public esteem. 公众已恢复对他的敬重。
• Young persons need to be, wherever possible, rehabilitated rather than punished. 未成年人需要受到尽可能的矫正而不是惩罚。

5 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。

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。