VOA标准英语2010-War Reparations Program in Sierra Leone N

A boy passes in front of a sign illustrating¹ the reasons behind the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation² Commission for Liberia, outside the commission headquarters in the capital, Monrovia, 30 May 2007

An official with the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission says reparations have been paid to about 20,000 victims of the country's long-running civil war.  She says the Commission would like to extend this program to a further 12,000 victims, but lacks the funds needed to provide cash grants and skills training to these people.

Tens of thousands of people suffered horrific abuse during Sierra Leone's 11-year civil war, which ended in 2002.  Two years later, Sierra Leone's Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up a reparations program to redress³ some of the worst consequences of the war.

Field Supervisor⁴ for the reparations program in Sierra Leone, Hawa Sese, says women were hardest hit by the war. 
She tells VOA women were raped⁵, used as sex slaves, their husbands and children were killed.  She says the torment⁶ many women experienced during the war continues to this day.

"It is difficult for these women because most of these women who were sexually abused, some of them were not accepted back into their communities," said Sese. "When a woman is being raped they are ostracized⁷ by their community, the stigmatization⁸. Some of these women have been living-even if there is no more war-they have been living in a war situation because they have war in their own minds, within themselves." 

Sese says many women are forced into prostitution to care for their families.  She says many survive by begging on the street.

In recognition of the many problems confronting women, Sese says the war reparations program is specifically tailored to meet the pressing needs of victims of sexual violence.

She says more than 60 percent of those registered in the program are women.  "It is timely because the women are really suffering in Sierra Leone and they need an extra hand," said Sese. "They need to be trained.  They need to be given capacity so that they can restore their dignity once more and they need to be trained in livelihood⁹ skills so that they can be able to take care of their homes even if there is no husband." 

The Geneva-based International Organization for Migration¹⁰ (IOM) is providing technical assistance to Sierra Leone's reparations program for victims of sexual violence.  Hawa Sese was in Geneva to confer with officials from IOM about their joint¹¹ activities.

The German government, the U.N. Peace Building Fund and U.N. Trust Fund to End Violence against women are providing money for the Sierra Leone Reparations Program.  Despite this, IOM says $8 million is urgently needed to continue vital assistance to all victims of Sierra Leone's brutal¹² and long civil war.

 

1 illustrating   

给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• He upstaged the other speakers by illustrating his talk with slides. 他演讲中配上幻灯片，比其他演讲人更吸引听众。
• Material illustrating detailed structure of graptolites has been etched from limestone by means of hydrofluoric acid. 表明笔石详细构造的物质是利用氢氟酸从石灰岩中侵蚀出来。

2 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

3 redress   

n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除

参考例句：

• He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
• Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。

4 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

5 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

6 torment   

n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠

参考例句：

• He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。

7 ostracized   

v.放逐( ostracize的过去式和过去分词 )；流放；摈弃；排斥

参考例句：

• He was ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike. 他因拒绝支持罢工而受到同事的排斥。
• The family were ostracized by the neighborhood. 邻居们都不理睬那一家人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 stigmatization   

n.描绘，陈述

参考例句：

9 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

10 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

11 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

12 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。