VOA常速英语2007年-UNICEF: Security Continues to Worsen in Mogadis

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
18 December 2007

The U.N. Children's Fund says the security situation in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia is continuing to deteriorate¹. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

The U.N. Children's Fund says it is becoming more difficult to provide humanitarian² assistance to hundreds of thousands of people in Somalia.

It reports, since October fighting between the transitional government and rebels has caused 200,000 people to flee Mogadishu. This brings the number of people who have fled the capital this year to about 600,000.

In an interview from Nairobi, UNICEF Emergency Communication Officer Misbah Sheikh tells VOA it is the children and women who are the main victims of this war.

"If you consider this year alone, UNICEF has confirmed reports that 31 children died on their way to school," Sheikh said. "So, something as common as going to school has become a deadly activity. We also have reports of women being raped³ as they are fleeing Mogadishu, within Mogadishu. This is a subject of concern ... because we are not able to work in Mogadishu as we would like to, we are not able to address this."

Sheikh says malnutrition⁴ among children has risen above emergency levels.

She says an estimated 200,000 people who fled Mogadishu are living in overcrowded camps along the route to Afgooye, a small town west of the capital.

She says sanitation⁵, water, and food is a problem there, but some aid is getting through.

"UNICEF is working with our partners to ensure that latrines are being constructed," she said. "Just recently this week 100 latrines are being constructed for residents in some of these IDP [internally displaced people] camps. We have about one-half-million liters of water that gets to over 50,000 people every day ... We have feeding centers. We have health centers that are taking care of malnourished children."

UNICEF reports one of its main warehouses⁶ in Mogadishu was looted Monday and supplies worth more than $1.5 million were taken.

But in a rare bit of good luck, UNICEF says the stolen goods have been retrieved⁷.

1 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

2 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。

3 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

4 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

5 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

6 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

7 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句