VOA常速英语2007年-UN Seeks $406 Million for Somalia Crisis in 200

By Nick Wadhams
Nairobi
11 December 2007

The United Nations has issued an appeal for $406 million in 2008 to ease the humanitarian¹ crisis is Somalia. As Nick Wadhams reports from Nairobi, the United Nations says years of chaos² coupled with recent fighting mean that one and one half million people in Somalia need help urgently.

The call for help is part of the U.N. worldwide annual appeal, which seeks $3.8 billion in 2008 for hotspots around the world, including Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Palestinian territories.

Underscoring the depth of the crisis in Somalia, the aid group Doctors Without Borders released a statement late Tuesday saying recent fighting had spurred a new exodus⁴ from the capital Mogadishu. It said there are about 200,000 displaced people living in miserable⁵ conditions along the road from Mogadishu to the city of Afgooye.

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator⁶ for Somalia, Eric Laroche, says he is hopeful that the appeal will raise the money that Somalia needs.

"I hope it is going to be more than what we got last year, and last year was not too bad," he said. "We got 70 percent coverage⁷ of the needs. Why is it that I am optimistic, it is that there is no doubt that the profile of Somalia has been raised a lot. One can say that people are talking more and more about Somalia."

At an event launching the U.N. appeal, Somalia's new prime minister, Nur Hassan Hussein, who was appointed late last month, acknowledged the world's expectations of the transitional federal government are high and said he hoped that the expectation would not turn into frustration⁸.

Many aid groups have complained about the difficulty of working in Somalia. They face roadblocks manned by various factions⁹, where workers may have to pay hundreds of dollars. Aid workers have been killed in the ongoing¹⁰ violence, and sometimes the transitional federal government has blocked them from doing their work. Few are operating in Mogadishu because the city is too dangerous.

Mr. Hussein said he would try to make things easier for aid groups in Somalia.

"The needs are definitely there and we as the government will try our best to facilitate the humanitarian operations," he said. "We will try our best to avoid that the humanitarian operations are hampered¹¹, we will try to respect the humanitarian code of conduct and I hope that the humanitarian community also will respect the rules and regulations existing in the country."

The harshest criticism of the transitional federal government came from Mr. Laroche, who is stepping down from his post in a month. At a news conference after Tuesday's event, he accused it of failing the hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

"I do not think the TFG as a government, which is responsible for the protection of its own people, has done the work that they were supposed to do, and I do not think they have done what they should have been doing in terms of facilitating the work of the international community," he said. "But what they have done is they have nominated a new prime minister which is very good news for all of us."

Somalia has been in a state of chaos since a 1991 coup³ ousted¹² dictator Mohammed Siad Barre. A lose affiliation¹³ of Islamic groups were pushed from the capital after Ethiopian troops entered the country a year ago in support of the transitional government.

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 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。

3 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

4 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

5 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

6 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

7 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

8 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

9 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

10 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

11 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

12 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

13 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。