VOA常速英语2016--保护残疾人人权势在必行

Promoting the human rights of persons with disabilities has been a key objective of U.S. President Barack Obama's administration both at home and internationally.

“Disability rights are not abstract concepts” wrote Secretary of State John Kerry. “They are about things you can see and touch that make a difference. They are about sidewalks with curb¹ cuts; public buildings with accessible bathrooms; restaurants, stores, hotels, and universities with ramps² and elevator access; buses with lifts; and train platforms with tactile³ strips.”

Judy Heumann is the United States' first Special Advisor⁴ for International Disability Rights. She came to the State Department to help implement⁵ the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities -- which the U.S. is a signatory to. During her tenure⁶, she has used diplomacy⁷ to promote disability rights worldwide:

“According to the World Bank and the World Health Organization at least 15 percent of the world's population have disabilities...”

When you are excluding a large percentage of a population, it has economic implications on the country, needless economic consequences ... We try to work both with civil societies in other countries and government to make them recognize that disabled people can make the same contributions as other people if those barriers are removed.”

Special Advisor Heumann, who is herself a wheelchair rider, has traveled to nearly 40 countries to engage governments and civil society on disability rights. Her team has worked to empower the voices of Disabled Peoples Organizations, helping⁸ them to help their governments draft laws that protect disabled persons from discrimination. She has worked within the State Department to expand visitors and exchange programs so that government and non-governmental representatives can learn first-hand how the Americans with Disabilities Act is implemented⁹ in the United States.

Special Advisor Heumann and her team have trained State Department staff to create more inclusive environments in U.S. embassies and to recognize and document abuses of disability rights in some countries for inclusion in the Congressionally mandated¹⁰ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

“Our work,” said Special Advisor Heumann “Is to encourage disabled people to fight for their rights, to give them their needed information on how to do it ... (and) to encourage governments to do ultimately what I think they realize is the right thing.”

 

1 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

2 ramps   

resources allocation and multiproject scheduling 资源分配和多项目的行程安排

参考例句：

• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。
• He has the upper floor and ramps are fitted everywhere for his convenience. 他住在上面一层，为了他的方便着想，到处设有坡道。

3 tactile   

adj.触觉的，有触觉的，能触知的

参考例句：

• Norris is an expert in the tactile and the tangible.诺里斯创作最精到之处便是，他描绘的人物使人看得见摸得着。
• Tactile communication uses touch rather than sight or hearing.触觉交流，是用触摸感觉，而不是用看或听来感觉。

4 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。

5 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

6 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

7 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

8 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。

9 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

10 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。