2007年VOA标准英语-EU Officials Nervous Over Darfur Security

By Arjun Kohli
Nairobi
12 July 2007

European Union officials say they are deeply concerned about the inability of the African Union to pay its peacekeeping troops in Darfur, western Sudan.  An EU official tells VOA there are fears that the African Union may not be equipped to meet the challenges of a larger hybrid¹ peacekeeping force, expected to be deployed³ in Darfur later in the year.  Arjun Kohli has more from our East Africa bureau in Nairobi.

A picture taken by the WFP in February 2007 shows displaced Sudanese people at the WFP food aid distribution center of the Otash IDP camp in Nyala, Sudan

European parliament members in Strasbourg are discussing the crisis in Darfur, after a recent fact-finding mission to Sudan's war-torn western region revealed widespread problems in the AU peacekeeping mission, known by its acronym⁴ AMIS.

The lawmakers are especially focused on reports that the 7,000 AU soldiers have not received their salaries in more than four months, despite the monthly multi-million dollar European contribution to the peacekeeping mission.

A spokesman for the EU development and aid commission, Amadeu Altafaj, says that the European Union does not believe corruption⁵ is the reason for the delay.  He says a lack of expertise⁶ in financial and administrative⁷ management, combined with inadequate⁸ resources, may be the problem. 

"We have been carrying out audits⁹ in Addis, in Khartoum," Altafaj said. "We do not have evidence of any fraud, any misuse¹⁰ of the money.  But on the other hand we have seen that there are difficulties, there are delays.  There is a lack of capacity.  There is a lack of expertise in the African Union, but AMIS is doing an important job on the ground.  They are the only ones taking this responsibility on the ground, so what they need is full support of the international community in general."

Fighting in Darfur continues even though the largest rebel group, but not others, signed a peace agreement with the government in Khartoum last year.

More than 200,000 people have been killed by the violence since 2003 and an estimated 2.5 million people are homeless.  An understaffed AU force has been unable to stop the fighting.

In June, the Sudanese government agreed to allow the United Nations to deploy² a joint¹¹ force with the African Union.  

EU spokesman Altafaj says that for two months the European Union has used reserve funds to keep the AU operation afloat, because financial pledges from the international community have not been honored. 

"There are problems.  There are delays.  But the main difficulty, in fact, is the chronic¹² uncertainty¹³ of the financing of the operations of the African Union peace force," Altafaj said. "It is difficult to figure out how we can have a bigger force in place in the future if we are not even able to finance the 7,000 African forces on the ground.  What the African Union needs is, of course, capacities, supports, transparency etc.  But what they need the most is really financial backing from the whole international community."

People in Darfur are victims of all kinds of violence, including rape¹⁴ and murder.  In late June, France, the United States, China, and 15 other nations agreed at a Paris conference to redouble efforts to end the bloodshed. 

1 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

2 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

3 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

4 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

7 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

8 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

9 audits   

n.审计，查账( audit的名词复数 )v.审计，查账( audit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Requires that use of all bond funds is subject to independent audits. 需要使用的所有债券基金是受独立审计。 来自互联网
• Support the locations during customer-visits, audits and quality-improvement programs. 支持客户参观，稽核和提高品质等项目。 来自互联网

10 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

11 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

12 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

13 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

14 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。