VOA标准英语2008年-UN Agencies Warn of Growing Humanitarian Risk i

United Nations agencies are warning of a growing humanitarian¹ emergency in the Horn of Africa region. As Derek Kilner reports from Nairobi, the agencies are calling on donor² countries to provide more funds to stem a worsening crisis in Somalia, Ethiopia and other countries.
　
UN agencies have warned that a combination of drought, insecurity and rising food prices threaten to make an already dire³ humanitarian situation in the Horn of Africa even worse in coming months. The agencies estimate that over 14 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia and Djibouti will require food and other forms of assistance.

Nowhere is the outlook grimmer than in Somalia, where soaring food prices have added to the problems caused by three years of drought, and 17 years of civil war. The UN's Humanitarian Coordinator⁴ for Somalia, Mark Bowden, told a news conference in Nairobi that the security situation has only gotten worse in recent months.

"I think it's fair to say at the moment that in parts of Somalia people feel more insecure than ever before," said Bowden.
　
He said that in Somalia, where between 60 to 80 percent of food is imported, and where over a million people have been displaced by fighting, the population is particularly vulnerable.

"We're now estimating that by the end of the year, three and a half million people will need assistance. That by any estimate, is about almost half the population, will need assistance, which is a frightening figure to have to deal with," he added.

The UN has launched a $637 million humanitarian appeal for Somalia. So far, only 35 percent of that has been provided.

A spokesman for the World Food Program, Peter Smerdon, says that the agency is seeking to double food deliveries to Somalia in coming months, a task complicated by insecurity both on the ground in Somalia and off shore, where piracy⁵ has been a growing concern.

"We are appealing for any government urgently now to step forward to provide naval⁶ escorts to our ships carrying WFP food into Somalia to protect them from piracy," he said. "Another ship in South Africa, having signed the contract to go to Mogadishu, is now refusing to load 12,000 tons of cereals today unless it receives naval support. If that 12,000 tons does not arrive in Mogadishu, 1 million people in Somalia will not receive any cereals in August," said Smerdon.

In Ethiopia, some 4.6 million people require emergency food aid, with nearly six million more also requiring international assistance. Ethiopia has been hit particularly hard by price increases, with inflation rates for food reaching 40 percent.

Smerdon says the WFP often buys food for its programs within Ethiopia, but in the current situation doing so would only serve to drive up prices even more.

 

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 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

3 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

4 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？

5 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

6 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。