VOA常速英语2014--美国国际开发署努力降低儿童和孕妇死亡率

 

USAID Unveils New Efforts to Reduce Child and Maternal¹ Deaths 美国国际开发署努力降低儿童和孕妇死亡率

WASHINGTON —

The head of the  U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Rajiv Shah, says that every day this year 18,000 more children will live and 700 more mothers will survive compared to the daily maternal and child mortality rate in 1990.  Shah's agency will host a forum² Wednesday in collaboration³ with governments of India, Ethiopia and other partners to mark the second anniversary of the Child and Maternal Survival Call to Action.  USAID will spend up to $2.9 billion of the agency’s resources to continue the fight for maternal and child health in 24 countries.

华盛顿 — 美国国际开发署署长拉吉夫·沙阿表示，与1990年相比，今年每天的儿童和孕妇死亡人数都会分别减少一万八千人和七百人。星期三，国际开发署和印度、埃塞俄比亚政府和其他合作伙伴一起，举办纪念“行动起来拯救儿童”两周年的活动。美国国际开发署将投入29亿美元来继续帮助24个国家改善孕妇和儿童健康。

While child deaths have dropped from 12.6 million in 1990 to 6.6 million in 2012, 16,000 children and 800 mothers are dying every day, says the U.S. Agency for International Development. 

美国国际开发署的统计数据显示，虽然儿童夭折人数从1990年的1260万下降到2012年的660万，但每天仍有一万六千名儿童和800名母亲丧生。

"The goal of ending preventable child and maternal death is within reach. Two years ago, USAID partnered with organizations around the world to help achieve this goal." says administrator⁴ Rajiv Shah.

然而，署长沙阿说：“消除可防预的儿童和孕妇死亡的目标是可以实现的。两年前，美国国际开发署与世界各地的组织为了实现这一目标开始合作。”

"After the Call to Action, 176 countries signed a pledge to make this a priority, report on the outcomes using report cards and quantitative⁵ measures of ‘Are we delivering success,’" 

"And on Wednesday I will announce America’s commitment to that Call to Action in which we will be repositioning nearly $3 billion of investment to save an additional 500,000 child lives between now and the end of 2015," he added.

她还说：“已经有176个国家签署了以此作为工作重点的承诺……从现在起到2015年底，我们会重新分配近30亿美元的资金，以便在2015年年底以前再拯救50万儿童的生命。”

USAID also plans $650 million in partnership⁶ awards with nearly two dozen companies to help distribute life saving drugs like amoxicillin to 5,500 rural villages.

同时，美国国际开发署计划出资6亿5千万美元与20多家公司合作，通过它们在5500个村子发放阿莫西林之类的救命药品。

In 2015, the U.N. Millennium⁷ Development goals and its targets, including improving child and maternal health, will expire.

2015年，包括提升儿童和孕妇健康的联合国千年发展目标即将到期。

 "We are working with a number of partners to identify what those issue areas are and then bringing in those strategic assets that each organization can help," explained Anita Sharma, with the U.N. program called Every Woman Every Child. "We will not be there in 2015, but we certainly know... the unfinished agenda of the MDG’s will continue far beyond 2015."

阿妮塔. 莎玛是联合国“每个妇女每个孩子”项目的工作人员。她通过Skype对美国之音说：“我们正与许多合作伙伴一起确定有问题的地区，然后把每个组织能提供的战略资产分配到这些地区。到2015年时，我们不会完成所有的计划，但我们肯定，千年发展目标未完成的计划会在2015年之后持续下去。”

Despite the resurgence⁸ of conflicts in some areas, both Sharma and Shah say progress is being made.

尽管在一些地区冲突再起，莎玛和沙阿都认为他们的工作有成效。

"We are helping⁹ to train health community workers so that they know how to help women and children gain access to medicines when they need them," said Shah. "We are helping to distribute misoprostol, which helps to prevent post-partum or post-birth bleeding amongst women - that is still the number one cause of maternal death in South Sudan."

署长沙阿说：“我们培训社区健康工作人员，这样他们就知道如何帮助妇女和儿童在他们需要的时候获得药品。我们还帮助发放米索前列醇，这是一种预防产后出血的药。在南苏丹，这仍是导致产妇死亡的首要病因。”

Sharma says money is one of the challenges, but the political will to prioritize health is also needed.  USAID Director Shah points to India as a good example.

莎玛说，资金虽然是挑战之一，但是将健康问题置于优先考虑的政治意愿同样重要。

"They have focused their efforts on ending child death in 132 districts that have the highest rates of under-five child mortality," he said. "They have moved resources from middle-income communities to poor communities in order to protect and save more children."

These new efforts to save an unprecedented¹⁰ number of women and children by USAID and its partners take center stage this week in Washington. 

1 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

2 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

3 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

4 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

5 quantitative   

adj.数量的，定量的

参考例句：

• He said it was only a quantitative difference.他说这仅仅是数量上的差别。
• We need to do some quantitative analysis of the drugs.我们对药物要进行定量分析。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

8 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。