VOA常速英语2008年-UN Announces Food Crisis Task Force

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
29 April 2008

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he will head a new task force to tackle the global food crisis that is plunging¹ tens of millions of people into poverty and hunger. He is calling for international donors² to urgently fund a three-quarter-billion-dollar shortfall by the World Food Program. The appeal follows a two-day U.N.-sponsored meeting in the Swiss capital, Bern, aimed at finding measures to deal with soaring food prices. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says participants at the emergency meeting discussed concrete measures to feed the hungry. He says the dramatic escalation³ in food prices worldwide has evolved into an unprecedented⁴ challenge of global proportions. He says it has become a crisis for the world's most vulnerable, including the urban poor.

Mr. Ban says governments must urgently contribute $755 million to the World Food Program.

"Without full funding of these emergency requirements, we risk again the specter of widespread hunger, malnutrition⁵ and social unrest on an unprecedented scale," he said. "We anticipate that additional funding will be required."

U.N. officials believe 100 million people have been driven into poverty and hunger because of skyrocketing food prices. The World Food Program says it cannot afford to buy food with the money it has. For example, it notes the price of a metric ton of rice has more than doubled since March.

WFP director Josette Sheeran says the agency has received $471 million in pledges.

"We only have 18 million of that cash in hand," said Sheeran. "And, so this becomes urgent because we cannot procure⁶ the food until we have the cash in hand and so we are bumping into a real urgent time frame of needing to get these commitments in as soon as possible so that we can keep these programs whole and we are getting stretched across the globe where we cannot do so."

World Bank President Robert Zoellick says this crisis will not be over once the emergency needs are addressed.

"The International Community needs to come in to working together to respond with policy initiatives so that this year's crisis does not become a generation's fact of life," he said. "Already, hunger and malnutrition are the underlying⁷ causes of death of over 3.5 million children every year, robbing the future potential of many millions more."

Increasing food prices are not the only problem afflicting⁸ the poor. The United Nations says farmers in developing countries are planting less and producing less because of the escalating⁹ cost of fertilizer and energy. It says efforts must be made to support these farmers.

The task force chaired by Secretary-General Ban will be made up of various heads of U.N. and international agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization, UNICEF and the World Bank. The group will explore ways to bring down the cost of food and increase agricultural production in poor countries.

1 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

4 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

5 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

6 procure   

vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条

参考例句：

• Can you procure some specimens for me?你能替我弄到一些标本吗？
• I'll try my best to procure you that original French novel.我将尽全力给你搞到那本原版法国小说。

7 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

8 afflicting   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• Violent crime is only one of the maladies afflicting modern society. 暴力犯罪仅仅是困扰现代社会的严重问题之一。
• Violent crime is only one of the maladies afflicting modern society. 暴力犯罪仅仅是危害社会的弊病之一。

9 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句