VOA标准英语2008年-Ghana Conference Brings Together Aid Donors, Re

The participants at the ongoing¹ Ghana conference on international aid are hoping to improve the effectiveness of aid to help poorer countries. A discussion is taking place over how to give developing countries more control over how aid money is spent. Brent Latham reports from our West Africa bureau in Dakar.

Ministers and senior officials from more than 100 countries and numerous aid organizations are debating the best uses for the more than $100 billion of aid that rich countries give to the poorest nations each year. Critics say the aid is poorly coordinated³, and often is subject to bureaucratic⁴ delays, political interests, and lack of coordination⁵.

The talks are aimed at forming a plan to increase the coordination between aid donor⁶ and recipient⁷ countries, says Christopher Nuoyel of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, or JICA.

"We have about 100 countries, both developing, aid recipients⁸, and givers, coming together to make an action plan which we will apply to make aid effective," Nuoyel said.

Nuoyel says organizations that coordinate² aid are waiting to see what sort of plan is shaped, and are anxious to coordinate to improve the effectiveness of the aid they deliver.

"The conference will end tomorrow [Thursday]. Then the action plan will be implemented," Nuoyel said.

Organizations like JICA or USAID, the United States aid organization, are responsible for managing the programs that distribute a large amount of aid in developing countries.

The British-based group OXFAM has accused the donor governments that run those organizations of using aid to attempt to shape economic and political policy.

Ministers and officials from many developing countries have said they are frustrated⁹ with the way aid is sometimes delivered, saying that the current procedures take up too much time and deliver too little benefit.

The executive director of UNICEF, Ann Veneman said some ministers have told her they spend as much as 60 percent of their time meeting with donor groups to comply with bureaucratic procedures rather than delivering results.

The developing countries have also expressed interest in gaining more control over aid funds, which they would prefer flow directly through their government agencies rather than third parties. Three years ago in Paris, a previous edition of the conference agreed that aid recipients should have more control over the kind of aid they receive, but no concrete measures were taken.

But some observers say such a setup opens the door to corruption¹⁰. International governance watchdog Transparency International has said the idea threatens to further curtail¹¹ the amount of aid that reaches the world's poorest people.

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

3 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

5 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

6 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。

7 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

8 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。