2006年VOA标准英语-Sudan UNICEF Advancing Girls' Education in Nort

By Gilbert da Costa
Abuja
29 October 2006

The United Nations, in collaboration¹ with the Nigerian government, has launched an ambitious girls' education program to boost gender² parity³ in primary schools.  The program is focusing on the northern region, where girls' enrollment⁵ is very low.

 

Girls stand outside their home in Todo village, near Ilorin, Nigeria

Millions of girls are expected to benefit from the initiative that supports key projects and activities, such as classroom construction and rehabilitation⁶, procurement⁷ of books, and educational campaigns to track and enroll⁴ young girls.

 

Girls' education in northern Nigeria lags behind boys in basic literacy, perpetuating⁸ a cycle of inequality and poverty that impedes⁹ developing societies from achieving their full potential.

 

The program seeks to create a girl-friendly environment in school as the first step, as Mohammed Jallo of UNICEF explains.

 

"We found out that, one of the reasons parents do not want to send their girls to school is that they believed conditions in the schools are not girl-friendly," said Jallo. "For example, most of the schools do not have toilet facilities, separate ones for boys and girls. So, we go to the schools, and we help provide toilet facilities, separate ones for boys and girls. We provide bore holes, so that the children can have access to water during the time they are in school. We also help in the provision of books. We assist in the training of teachers to improve their skills and competencies. We also support in the supervision¹⁰ of teachers, and we also help in some logistics. We advocate with governors and chairmen to provide additional support, in terms of posting of teachers to the schools, especially female teachers."

 

The initiative is addressing deep-seated cultural and religious challenges, such as forced marriages.

 

Most states in Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria have adopted strict Islamic sharia law, which many analysts¹¹ see as an additional gender barrier to education.

 

UNICEF recruits local community support to overcome barriers and reverse long-held misconceptions about girls' education. Jallo says religious and political leaders are included.

 

"We have been able to support the formation of what we call school-based management committees, getting parents and community members involved in doing the mobilization at the community level," he added. "So, they are the ones now going to the individual households, identify children who are out of schools, and educating and sensitizing the parents and encouraging them to send their children to school. And we are seeing enrollment increasing. And with the recent campaigns, because the governors and chairmen and religious leaders, the emirs going out and talking to parents, and even doing the registration¹² themselves, and that adds another level of motivation."

 

UNICEF is providing $47 million for the first phase of the project, with additional funding from the Nigerian and British governments.

1 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

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 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

4 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

5 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

6 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

7 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

8 perpetuating   

perpetuate的现在进行式

参考例句：

• Revenge leads to a self-perpetuating cycle of violence. 怨怨相报会导致永不休止的暴力。
• It'set out to eradicate heresy, and ended by perpetuating it. 它的目的只是要根除异端邪说，结果却巩固了异端邪说。 来自英汉文学

9 impedes   

阻碍，妨碍，阻止( impede的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• High packing density greatly impedes the cooling of the array. 高存贮密度很不利于阵列的散热。
• The inflexibility of the country's labor market seriously impedes its economic recovery. 该国劳工市场缺乏灵活性，这严重阻碍了它的经济恢复。

10 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？