VOA标准英语2013--Past Conflict Still Affects Aid Workers

 

Past Conflict Still Affects Aid Workers

The many years of conflict in northern Uganda between government forces and the Lord’s Resistance Army took a heavy toll¹ on the civilian² population. The LRA carried out killings³, rapes⁴, looting, mutilations and abductions. But new research shows that Ugandan humanitarian⁵ workers were also deeply affected⁶ by the chronic⁷ and traumatic stress during those years.

The Lord’s Resistance Army began its attacks in the late 1980s. It’s estimated that by 2006, tens of thousands of civilians⁸ had been killed, tens of thousands of children abducted⁹ and nearly two million people displaced. Those living in the many camps in the north often had few basic services and were ravaged¹⁰ by disease.

The government and the LRA signed a truce¹¹ in 2006, which led to on-again, off-again peace talks and internal power struggles within the rebel group, as well as multi-national military offensives. In the end the rebels left Uganda.

However, for years, small bands of the rebels have terrorized parts of the DRC, Central African Republic and South Sudan. But while the LRA may be gone from northern Uganda, research shows the effects of the conflict remain very much present among aid workers.

Researchers focused on the Gulu area, which was at the heart of the conflict. The study chose 21 agencies and 376 Ugandans.

Professor Alastair Ager said that studies had been done on the effects of conflict on expatriate workers. But that was a relatively¹² small number compared to native-born aid workers.

“This was only telling part of the story and that the experience of those who lived and worked in the country of their birth was an important part of the story. So we did studies in northern Uganda, but we have also done them in Jordan, particularly working with the Iraqi refugee crisis, and also people working in Sri Lanka,” he said.

Ager is a professor of Clinical Population and Family Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

He said, “Broadly we saw this common pattern of really quite significant levels of mental health symptoms associated with people who are really finding it pretty tough. And in a sense that’s not surprising. These are difficult situations and it’s difficult work. But it was one of the first times to really document the mental health and burnout issues that many people in this key sector¹³ are facing.”

These include high levels of depression, anxiety disorders¹⁵ and post-traumatic stress disorder¹⁴. They’ve built up over time due to a gradual erosion of the workers’ resilience to conflict conditions. And the symptoms were worse in the Ugandan-born workers than in the ex-pats.

“Certain organizations seemed to be doing a better job in helping¹⁶ their staff cope with difficult situations than others. A major source of stress was the differences between the experience of expatriate workers and national staff – the inequities, if you like, in conditions of service, in the treatment and the privileges available to people who have an expatriate status or a national status. And that was an awkward thing to talk about, but clearly was a major source of contention¹⁷ in terms of people feeling that they’re getting the short end of the stick in the terms of the way that they’re dealt with and the way that facilities are made available to them,” he said.

Aid workers with U.N. organizations reported “the fewest overall symptoms.” However, Ager said Ugandans employed by international NGOs “reported significantly more signs of depression.”

“The bigger organization has resources and capacities to be able to deploy¹⁸ staff, give appropriate leave, give appropriate management and so on. So, if you’re a small organization, you might feel, well, ok, we just can’t do the sort of things that those bigger agencies can do. One of the key predictors of difficulty was a lack of team cohesion¹⁹ – a sense of the work group that you’re working with being one where there’s conflict and difficulty. And that’s an area clearly where any organization can put some investment into,” he said.

The study says women were found to be much more vulnerable to mental health issues. But it’s not clear whether men were being completely forthcoming in the survey about how they felt.

The study recommends that aid workers find ways to ensure they have rest and recreation and somehow disconnect from the conflict situation for a time. However, Professor Ager says the bulk of the recommendations are aimed at organizations.

“To get the best out of your staff, there’s real value in some fairly simple and straightforward²⁰ investment in good management practice in terms of people having clear job descriptions in terms of knowing what they’re doing. Regular form of feedback so that people can be encouraged that they’re being successful and if they are finding things difficult. And generally an acknowledgment that teams can get tense with each other. There can be problems and issues there. And these very practical management things promise significant impact in terms of the well-being²¹ of workers,” he said.

The recommendations also include providing better access to the phone or Internet for personal communications and discouraging “excessive hours at work.” The study appears in the Journal of Traumatic Stress.

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

4 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

5 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。

6 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。

7 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

8 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

9 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。

10 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

11 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

12 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

13 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

14 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

15 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

17 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

18 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

19 cohesion   

n.团结，凝结力

参考例句：

• I had to bring some cohesion into the company.我得使整个公司恢复凝聚力。
• The power of culture is deeply rooted in the vitality,creativity and cohesion of a nation. 文化的力量，深深熔铸在民族的生命力、创造力和凝聚力之中。

20 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

21 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。