2006年VOA标准英语-Top UN Official: Not to Late to Take Action on

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
29 November 2006

U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian¹ Affairs Jan Egeland says the international community, governments and political leaders are in denial about the scope of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's province of Darfur. But, the U.N. humanitarian chief says it is not too late to take action. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA on Egeland's final news conference in Geneva before stepping down from his post on December 13.

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Jan Egeland speaks during press conference at UN European headquarters in Geneva, 29 Nov 2006

U.N. Undersecretary-General Jan Egeland says the international community could have stopped the war in Darfur in early 2004 when there was a ceasefire. But, he says the world woke up too late to the humanitarian catastrophe² that was unfolding.

He says everyone failed the people of Darfur, thousands of whom have been victims of massive killings³, rapes⁴ and other atrocities⁵. He accuses African countries of having done too little too late. He says the Arab countries, the major ASEAN economic partners, the Western countries, all have done too little, too late.

"If there had been enough pressure earlier on the government and the rebels, we would not have had the situation in Darfur we have today," he said. "It is not too late. It is not too late. We can still have, we should still have an international force, which is much better. It should be African-led. It should be African-driven. It should be African in its nature. It should be African in its face. The U.N. has to become part of it for it to become effective. That is the lesson of these three and one half long years."

Egeland says there is ample evidence that the situation is getting worse. He warns the conflicts in Darfur, Chad and Central African Republic are intimately linked. He says there is real danger of a regional conflict.

"In all of the three countries, there are fighters from the other countries crossing the border, seeking refuge on each others' sides," he said. "Countries in the region are aiding the rebels on the other side. This is one of Africa's biggest diseases. I mean the enemy of my enemy is my friend. That is a fallacy really. What you are creating is long-term chaos⁶ for yourself and a lot of suffering for your own citizens and for your neighbors."

On another subject, Egeland says the situation in Iraq is becoming worse. He calls the death of more than 100 civilians⁷ every day an outrage⁸. He notes this is three times bigger than the number of people that were killed on a daily basis during Lebanon's civil war.

He says this situation cannot continue. He says everyone, those who invaded Iraq, the neighboring countries, political leaders, everyone has to do something radical⁹ to change this situation.

1 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。

2 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

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 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

7 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。

8 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

9 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。