VOA标准英语2010年-UN Summit Ends with Continuing Debate

In an address to the United Nations General Assembly Thursday, President Barack Obama said U.S. policy will emphasize incentives¹ for economic growth over food or financial aid, and encourage countries to come up with practical policies for achieving the Millennium² Development Goals.

And, he reiterated³ the criteria⁴ set forth⁵ by the U.S. Agency for International Development for measuring the success of the MDG's: They include the use of new and sustainable technologies combined with mutual⁶ accountability and improved tracking of development outcomes.

Greg Adams is the Director of Aid Effectiveness at Oxfam-America. He welcomed President Obama's strategy for reaching the goals, though he says more needs to be done.

Gilvan Barreto / Oxfam
The Obama administration is focusing on boosting food production as a means of reducing extreme hunger
"A couple of things we need him to do," Adams said. "We hope he will work with Congress to re-write the laws regarding [U.S.] Government foreign assistance because right now they are a tangled⁷ web of conflicting authorities that we need to clear up.

And, we also hope President Obama will include USAID Adminstrator Rajiv Shah, in as many National Security Council meetings as possible. One of the aims of the new policy is to elevate the voice of development in overall government foreign policy and right now as the main foreign policy body in the White House sits down to talk, there is no development voice at the table."

Peer review
Oxfam urges donors⁸, including the leading industrialized nations, or G8, to keep promises made at their summit in Glenneagles, Scotland, five years ago to increase aid by $50 billion by 2010. So far, the development group notes, only about $30 billion has been received.

It also wants to improve the accountability of national leaders for the progress made on reaching the MDGs.

Irungu Houghton, Oxfam's Pan Africa Director in Nairobi, Kenya, says peer review should be a part of the yearly year summits where heads of state gather to review the goals.

"[We should think] more creatively how the president of an African country could be questioned by an Indian or Brazilian colleagues or vice¹⁰ versa [as] an important way of developing a dialogue where no head of state would come to the forum¹¹ without being very clear what the progress is and that they 've done all that they can during the course of the year to meet the MDG's," Houghton said.

Greater transparency

Development activists¹² also advocate greater transparency as part of the fight against corruption¹³ – which inhibits¹⁵ the best laid plans for improving social services and living standards.

A recent report by the UN Economic Commission for Africa notes that 3% of Africa's public resources are diverted to private hands, and that the continent loses 60% in illicit¹⁶ capital flows to foreign tax havens¹⁷.

Eva-Lotta Jansson / Oxfam America
The highest rates of child mortality are in sub-Saharan Africa, where 1 in 7 children die before their fifth birthday (UNDP)
Irungu Houghton, Oxfam's Pan Africa advisor¹⁸, based in Nairobi, Kenya, stresses the need for greater transparency in business contracts.

"We know stories of Mobutu in (mineral-rich) Zaire [now Democratic Republic of the Congo] and in (oil-rich) Equatorial Guinea where there is a corrupt¹⁴ relationship between members of the government and transnational corporation executives," Houghton added. "This has begun to change especially in the context that [Uganda, Ghana and other African countries are] now negotiating a whole set of arrangements with the Chinese and other [Asian] countries to explore oil and other deposits. If handled well, [it] could mean these countries moving from least developed to middle income countries.

Houghton welcomes renewed efforts by industrialized nations to encourage openness in transactions between international companies and African governments. One such effort is a recent law passed by the US Congress that requires energy companies wishing to do business in the US to reveal all payments made to government officials. Oxfam encourages the African Union and other bodies to set up and enforce similar Publish What You Pay procedures for companies doing business in their region.

Sources of revenue

Oxfam also encourages donor⁹ countries to find alternative sources of revenue for supporting the MDGs. One, supported by France and Japan, would include a tax on world financial transactions, a proposal not supported by the United States.

Geoff Sayer / Oxfam
Current aid for basic education to the developing world ($2.7 billion) is seven times less than what the world spends on chewing gum each year (Oxfam/UNESCO)
The development organization warns that the development goals could be affected¹⁹ by a return to indebtedness. Houghton says many developing countries borrowed money at high rates from private banks for stimulus²⁰ programs to cushion themselves from the global economic downturn.

But he says that's meant $60 billion in deficits²¹, and the threat of a return of the widespread debt of the 1980's and 1990's. Houghton proposes the creation of mechanisms²², or an institution, to monitor the degree to which national governments borrow from private sources, and advise them on how to borrow prudently²³.

He expects these, and other ideas, to be part of the debate at G8 meetings and other forums that focus on the boosting the global economy, and living standards
 

1 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

2 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

3 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

4 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

7 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

8 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》

9 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

12 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

14 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

15 inhibits   

阻止，抑制( inhibit的第三人称单数 )； 使拘束，使尴尬

参考例句：

• A small manufacturing sector inhibits growth in the economy. 制造业规模太小有碍经济增长。
• His bad English inhibits him from speaking freely. 他英语学得不好，这使他不能表达自如。

16 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

17 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

18 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

19 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

20 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

21 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

22 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 prudently   

adv. 谨慎地，慎重地

参考例句：

• He prudently pursued his plan. 他谨慎地实行他那计划。
• They had prudently withdrawn as soon as the van had got fairly under way. 他们在蓬车安全上路后立即谨慎地离去了。