VOA标准英语2012--Activists Urge NATO to Protect Afghan Women's Rights

 

Activists² Urge NATO to Protect Afghan Women's Rights

Like so many Afghans, Manizha Naderi has concerns about the fate of her country after 2014, when international forces complete their withdrawal³ from Afghanistan after more than a decade of war.

"The whole country could fall apart; civil war could ensue. Everything that we have gained in 10 years can be undone⁴ if [the] U.S. and NATO leave too fast or too abruptly," she said.

Women in Afghanistan have gained numerous rights since the Taliban-led government was ousted⁵ in 2001. Under Taliban rule, women were not allowed to work, receive an education or leave their homes unless they were escorted by a man.

A great deal has changed since then. Afifa Azim is co-founder of the Afghan Women’s Network, an umbrella group of nearly 100 non-governmental organizations.

"After they removed [the] Taliban from power, with the support of the international community and NATO, women started to work. Girls returned to school, women worked at public spaces and in the government bodies," she said. 

But Afghan and international human rights activists worry that this progress will be quickly erased⁶ once foreign troops leave. Activists say women are being excluded as NATO leaders meet to discuss the security transition and the future of Afghanistan.

Activist¹ Manizha Naderi said, “Women comprise 50 percent of [the] population, and they have not been consulted in any of this, not the transition, not reconstruction⁷, not the negotiations⁸. They haven’t been consulted at all.” 

On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Chicago, the human rights monitoring group Amnesty International issued an open letter, urging U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai to keep their promise to safeguard women’s rights and freedoms.

The letter, signed by dignitaries, including former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, lays out steps to protect Afghan women's rights.

Frank Jannuzi is Deputy Executive Director of Amnesty International’s Washington office. "Afghan women [should be] participating in both the national and the local level in the peace process - in the planning, in the negotiations and the execution. We would like to see a trust fund established to ensure that Afghan women and also civil society will be supported in the years ahead," he said. 

Participants here at this “shadow summit” for women say history has shown that societies with empowered, educated and engaged women enjoy peace, prosperity and good governance.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said, “We have to figure out why, and to persuade everybody that having women’s rights and women being on various groups is the best way to ensure a better life for everybody, not just for women, but for everybody.” 

With 3 million girls in school and roughly a third of parliamentary seats held by women in Afghanistan, Amnesty International and other groups want to see women make up 30 percent of the negotiating teams involved in peace talks to end the Afghan war.

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

4 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。

5 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

6 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

8 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。