Nations attending a United Nations-sponsored special session on the world food crisis say failure to address the soaring cost of food threatens to undermine gains on reducing poverty. They warn this could lead to growing instability. The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council is calling on governments to enact measures to meet the vital food needs of their populations.
联合国星期四在日内瓦召开紧急会议，讨论世界粮食危机。与会各国代表指出，假如食品价格暴涨的问题得不到解决，全球扶贫工作势必因此而功败垂成。他们同时警告说，粮食危机有可能进一步加剧社会动乱。联合国人权理事会的47个成员国呼吁世界各国政府采取措施，满足广大民众的食品需求。
The United Nations estimates more than 850 million people worldwide are going hungry, and another two billion are suffering from malnutrition. The World Health Organization says malnutrition in children can cause life-long health problems.
联合国估计，目前全世界有8亿5千万人正在陷入饥饿，另外20亿人营养不良。世界卫生组织说，儿童营养不良给人们造成终生的健康问题。
The rights to adequate food and freedom from hunger are enshrined in international law. In calling for this special session, the U.N. Human Rights Council argued that the global food crisis is a massive violation of human rights.
国际法明文规定，人民享有获得充足食品和免受饥饿的权力。联合国人权理事会在日内瓦召开这次紧急会议的时候指出，全球粮食危机是对人权的一次大规模践踏。
In opening the conference, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, told delegates the high prices and shortages of food were jeopardizing the well-being and rights of countless people.
联合国人权事务高级专员阿布尔女士在紧急会议开始时告诉与会代表，粮价高涨和食品短缺危害到无数人民的福祉和权利。
"In some regions, natural disasters or misguided policies, or both, compound already severe situations and render them catastrophic for the most discriminated and marginalized populations," said Louise Arbour.
“在有些地区，自然灾害或政策失误，或二者兼而有之，给已经非常严重的形势雪上加霜，使那些最受歧视和最边缘化的民众陷入灭顶之灾。”
Arbour mentioned no country by name. But, her thoughts reflect the recent catastrophic events in Burma where the government has compounded the tragedy arising from Cyclone Nargis by not allowing enough foreign aid to reach the 2.5 million affected people.
阿布尔女士并没有点任何国家的名。但是她的说法反映了缅甸最近出现的天灾人祸。在缅甸，纳尔吉斯强热带风暴给当地250多万人造成巨大灾难，可是缅甸军政府却不允许其他国家给灾民提供足够的援助。
Arbour said the current food crisis stems from several factors including distortions in supply and demand and unfair trade policies. She said a failure to respond to the food crisis in a comprehensive way could trigger a domino effect by putting at risk other fundamental rights, including the right to health or to education.
阿布尔女士指出，目前的粮食危机是好几个因素引起的，其中包括供需失调和贸易政策不公平。她表示，各国如果不能对这场粮食危机做出全面的反应，势必引起多米诺效应，导致人民在卫生和教育等方面的最基本权利受到损害。
"Very few issues speak as forcefully as this one about individual rights and collective action and about the intolerable inequalities that affect millions through no fault of their own,"she said.
“没有多少其他问题能像粮食危机这样强有力地告诉人们个人权利和集体行动息息相关，使人们看到这场危机使数以百万计的无辜者遭受不可容忍的不平等待遇。”
Prices of staple food such as rice, wheat, corn and oils have more than doubled since March. This has set off riots in some 40 of the world's poorer countries, where people spend up to 80 percent of their family incomes on food.
今年三月以来，大米、小麦、玉米和食用油等主要食品的平均价格已经上涨了两倍多。这种情况导致世界40多个比较贫穷的国家出现了社会动乱，在这些国家，人们家庭收入的80%被用来购买食品。
The newly appointed Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter blames much of the food crisis on the cultivation of crops for biofuels instead of for food.
奥利维尔.德.舒特是联合国新近任命的食品权利特别报告起草人。他认为，粮食危机在很大程度上是由于原本种植粮食的农田被用来种植生物燃料作物。
In his speech to the U.N. session, he renewed his call for a freeze on new investment in biofuels and called upon the United States and Europe to rethink policies, which are bad for both the environment and food security.
舒特在联合国粮食危机紧急会议上发表讲话时，再次呼吁各国冻结在生物燃料方面的新投资，并要求美国和欧洲重新衡量他们的生物燃料政策。舒特认为，欧美的生物燃料政策不论是对环境还是食品安全来说都是有害的。
"The current food crisis vividly illustrates the need for all states to adopt measures which will better shield the most vulnerable segments of the population in the future from such shocks of this magnitude, "said Olivier De Schutter.
“目前的粮食危机明确地显示出，所有的国家都需要采取措施，更好地保护那些最弱势的群体，防止他们今后再次遭受如此规模的巨大打击。”
Schutter says it is important to support agriculture in developing countries, particularly by small-hold farmers. And, it is particularly urgent to provide farmers with seeds and fertilizers before the close of the planting season in June to prepare the next harvest.
舒特还说，至关重要的是必须支持发展中国家的农业部门，尤其是扶持小型农场。而目前最为迫切的是向农民提供种子和化肥，以便他们在六月种植季节结束之前能够完成播种，为下一季收成做好准备。
He says rural communities should invest heavily in infrastructure, particularly in irrigation and communications. He also calls for an end to trade-distorting policies, which would allow farmers from poor countries fairer market access.
他还指出，农业部门需要在基础设施方面加强投资，尤其是在灌溉和通讯领域。他还呼吁有关国家废除那些扭曲贸易的政策，以使贫穷国家的农民获得更加公平的市场准入。 |