2007年VOA标准英语-UN Appeals to International Community to Help P

By Mona Ghuneim
New York
24 July 2007

U.N. relief coordinator¹ John Holmes says one of the most severe droughts on record in southern Africa could turn into a serious humanitarian² crisis if help is not forthcoming. VOA's Mona Ghuneim in New York reports, Holmes appealed to international donors³ for immediate⁴ aid during his news conference at the U.N. headquarters Tuesday.

Holmes says the drought is affecting Swaziland, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and parts of Mozambique and could cause major food and security problems for the region. He says the drought has already impacted crop productions, but the global community can still help thwart⁵ a crisis.

Holmes says Zimbabwe's cereal harvest is expected to be 44 percent less this year than in 2006 because of the drought.

"The anticipation⁶ is that some 4 million people, which is around a third of the population, will be in need of some kind of food assistance by the first quarter of 2008," he explained.

Holmes says the drought is having an impact on Zimbabwe's already turbulent economy by driving food prices up in the markets. He also says the drought will undermine efforts to provide proper nutrition for the nation's large HIV/AIDS-infected population. Holmes estimates that population at 12 percent, but other experts place it even higher.

Holmes says he is especially concerned about Swaziland, where the government declared a national disaster last month. He says Swaziland has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS cases in the world. One-fifth of the population, or 220,000 people, he says, suffers from the epidemic⁷. 

"That means there's a lot of orphans⁸, a lot of children under five, who are particularly vulnerable so there are great worries about severe malnutrition⁹ if we don't act now," he added.

Holmes says the aid priorities for the region are food and agriculture, health and nutrition, and water and sanitation¹⁰. He says early recovery is possible but only if the international community acts at once.

1 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？

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 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 thwart   

v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的)

参考例句：

• We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
• I don't think that will thwart our purposes.我认为那不会使我们的目的受到挫折。

6 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

7 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

8 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

9 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。

10 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。