VOA常速英语2008年-WFP: Banditry Endangering Food Distribution to

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
23 February 2008

The United Nations World Food Program says increasing banditry in Sudan's conflict-ridden Darfur region is endangering its ability to feed up to three million people there. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.

Fighting between Sudanese-backed militia¹ and rebel groups continue to kill and displace many people in Darfur. The insecurity generated from the ongoing² conflict continues to hamper³ the delivery of humanitarian⁴ assistance.

But, the World Food Program says it is the rising banditry in the region that most threatens its ability to distribute food to millions of homeless people in Darfur. WFP spokeswoman, Christiane Berthiaume, tells VOA 26 trucks have been stolen and 15 drivers abducted⁵ since the beginning of the year.

"Every week, we have to face these kinds of events where the trucks are stopped by roadblocks - people, bandits, armed people who ask for money - take the trucks, take sometimes also the drivers," she said. "It has been going on for many months now. Often the drivers are sent back and sometimes the food is stolen. Sometimes they even attack trucks without any food because they take the trucks."

The World Food Program's food distribution operation in Darfur is huge. The agency estimates more than three million people are fed through its programs, depending on the season.

In order to maintain the program, it has to bring in 40,000 tons of food every month. Berthiaume says it takes 1,400 trucks to carry the food from the port of entry to the warehouses⁶ to the beneficiaries.

She says delivering food in Darfur is difficult even in the best of times. Berthiaume says the trucks have to traverse 3,000 kilometers of largely bad roads.

She says the period between January and May is very crucial and WFP is worried by the increasing risks.

"We need to pre-position food before the start of the rainy season," said Berthiaume. "We are doing it right now. But again, if the insecurity prevails, if those attacks prevail, we are indeed running the risk that the drivers and the company might be afraid and might decide that they will slow down. So, we need more security on those roads and it is not easy to get it."

Berthiaume says the World Food Program may have to resort to airdrops if road transport becomes impossible. But, she says, airdropping food is very expensive and planes are not able to carry the same large quantity of food that trucks can.

1 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

4 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

5 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

6 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。