2007年VOA标准英语-UN Envoy Says Conditions in Darfur Make Childre

By Noel King
Khartoum
01 February 2007

A United Nations envoy¹ to Sudan warned on Thursday that children in war-torn Darfur are facing increasing threats due to a security vacuum in the region. Noel King has more for VOA from Khartoum.

 

Radhika Coomaraswamy speaks during a Security Council meeting on Children and Armed Conflict at UN headquarters in New York, 24 Jul 2006

The U.N.'s special representative on children and armed conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, says boys in Darfur are increasingly being recruited into armed groups, while the threat of sexual violence against girls remains² a top concern, .

 

The U.N. envoy says that, at an official level, the Sudanese government has shown greater recognition of threats to children but said little has changed on the ground.

 

Coomaraswamy charged that both the Sudanese government and rebel groups in Darfur are guilty of recruiting children to fight alongside adults.

 

She said, "Independent monitors have pointed³ to us through verified data that child recruitment is increasing in Darfur and that all parties to the conflict engage in child recruitment."

 

Coomaraswamy says sexual violence against girls is also continuing in Darfur.

 

"Medical reports and other forms of verifiable information show that there are high rates of sexual violence," she said. "We again repeat that a security framework is absolutely necessary that is more protective of women and children."

 

The Darfur conflict will soon enter into its fourth year.

 

Sudan is charged with arming Arab militias⁴, known as janjaweed, to crush a 2003 rebellion.

 

Rebels complained remote Darfur was neglected by Sudan's powerful central government.

 

Experts estimate 200,000 people have died and more than two-and-a-half million others have been displaced in Darfur and eastern Chad.

1 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。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

4 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网