2006年VOA标准英语-Nicole Kidman Becomes UN Goodwill Ambassad

By Peter Heinlein
United Nations
26 January 2006

Academy award-winning actress Nicole Kidman has taken on a new job, as a United Nations goodwill¹ ambassador.  Kidman will work to advance women's rights and gender² equality.
 

Nicole Kidman answers a question during UN news conference   
  
The Australian movie star was introduced Thursday as goodwill envoy³ for the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Speaking to reporters, Kidman admitted she is no expert on UNIFEM's work.  She said she only learned about the agency after her mother told her of hearing a radio program about its work in Cambodia, helping⁴ rural women revive traditional silk-weaving skills as an alternative to being forced into exploitation.

"This really moved me, and it was at that point I tracked down who was the head of UNIFEM, and I called her up and said, listen, I heard about this, I heard about this work, and I would like to help and be involved in any way I can," said Ms. Kidman.  "So after many conversations and hearing many stories about the work they are doing around the world, here we are.  And I hope this will be a life-long commitment for me."

The 38-year-old actress said she plans to devote a considerable amount of time to UNIFEM over the long-term, starting with a world tour with the agency's chief, Noeleen Heyzer.

"This year I'm going to educate myself further by traveling with Noeleen and meeting the women and hearing their stories, and understanding first hand the issues they face, and so the countries we're considering possible visits to include Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Afghanistan and Cambodia," she said.  "And that's just the beginning. I'm interested in helping to give visibity to the pandemic of violence against women."

UNIFEM Director Heyzer says Kidman's star status will give a higher visibility to women's equality issues, and possibly help to speed up the pace of progress in a number of critical areas.

"This progress is too slow," she said.  "It is too slow when violence against women is still a pandemic in so many parts of the world. It is too slow when HIV/AIDS still has a woman's face, and a younger and younger woman's face, and where many women are still trafficked across borders; where there's a feminization of poverty."

Almost from its beginning, the United Nations has enlisted⁵ celebrities⁶ to focus attention on important issues. Actress Angelina Jolie has traveled widely as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency.

Kidman had also served for more than 10 years as an ambassador for the U.N. children's fund, UNICEF. But she says she will now focus mainly on her work for UNIFEM.

1 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

2 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

3 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

4 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。

5 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目