2007年VOA标准英语-Rwanda, Burundi, DRC Re-Launch Regional Bloc

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
18 April 2007

Countries of the Great Lakes region of central Africa have resurrected a former political and economic alliance so they can cooperate on a number of initiatives. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi.

Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi

The Economic Community for the Great Lakes Region was first created in 1976 to promote the free movement of goods and people amongst the Great Lakes nations of Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The arrangement lasted a little less than 20 years before it collapsed¹ due to brutal² civil wars in the region.

This week in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, the foreign ministers of the three countries re-launched the bloc³, pledging to work together to bring peace and stability to the volatile⁴ area.

Rwandan presidential adviser⁵ Richard Sezibera tells VOA the Economic Community for the Great Lakes Region, CEPGL, is an important step for the three countries that were in open conflict barely a few years ago. Sezibera says it will have programs in several priority areas: peace, security and good governance, agriculture, energy, infrastructure⁶, education and research, and investments.

"We will now be talking about cooperating in alleviating⁷ poverty and encouraging development of the three countries," he said. "It is an important step, not only for the three countries but hopefully, if we can get the CEPGL to work well, then it will be a model for the rest of the countries in Africa that are emerging from conflict."

For more than a decade, the Great Lakes countries have been embroiled⁸ in internal and cross-border warfare⁹.

Burundi is just emerging from a civil war that broke out in 1993 after the Tutsi-dominated army assassinated¹⁰ the country's first democratically elected president, who was a Hutu. That conflict claimed about 300,000 lives.

An estimated 800,000 mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered¹² during Rwanda's 1994 genocide. Many of the Hutu extremists responsible for the mass murder fled into the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Periodic forays into DRC by the Rwandan army to hunt down the Hutu extremists have caused strife¹³ between the two countries.

A number of brutal rebel groups operating in DRC have caused havoc¹⁴ in that country throughout the years and have also crossed over into Burundi to slaughter¹¹ Congolese refugees living in Burundi.

Rwandan presidential adviser Sezibera says, despite the chaos¹⁵, the three countries had managed to continue some programs set up under the old bloc, including an energy program that sees Rwanda getting power from DRC and a common travel document for the Great Lakes region.

He says Belgium and the European Union supported the re-launch and contributed resources to the community.

The Economic Community for the Great Lakes Region has three major institutions: the Economic and Development Bank of the Great Lakes countries, headquartered in DRC; the Energy of Great Lakes, also based in DRC; and the Institute of Agricultural Research and Zoology¹⁶, located in Burundi.

1 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

2 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

3 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

4 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 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。

7 alleviating   

减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• If it's alleviating pain,who knows what else it's doing? 如果它减轻了疼痛，天知道还影响什么？
• Measuring poverty is not the same as alleviating it, of course. 当然，衡量贫困和减轻贫困是截然不同的。

8 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

10 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

11 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

12 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

14 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

15 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

16 zoology   

n.动物学，生态

参考例句：

• I would like to brush up my zoology.我想重新温习一下动物学。
• The library didn't stock zoology textbooks.这家图书馆没有动物学教科书。