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UN Agencies Warn of Growing Humanitarian Risk in Horn of Africa

联合国吁国际社会援救非洲之角

　



United Nations agencies are warning of a growing humanitarian emergency in the Horn of Africa region. The agencies are calling on donor countries to provide more funds to stem a worsening crisis in Somalia, Ethiopia and other countries.

　

联合国各机构提出警告说，非洲之角地区的人道危机日趋紧迫。联合国机构呼吁捐赠国提供更多资金以解除索马里、埃塞俄比亚等国越来越严重的危机。

UN agencies have warned that a combination of drought, insecurity and rising food prices threaten to make an already dire 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.

　

联合国机构已警告说，旱灾、局势动荡以及食品价格上涨导致非洲之角地区已经糟糕的人道状况在今后几个月内有进一步恶化的危险。这些联合国机构估计，在埃塞俄比亚、肯尼亚、乌干达、索马里和吉布提有1400万以上的人口将需要食品以及其它形式的援助。

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 Coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, told a news conference in Nairobi that the security situation has only gotten worse in recent months.

　

索马里的前景最为严酷，那里的粮食价格飞涨使得三年旱灾及17年内战所带来的问题更为严重。负责索马里事务的联合国人权专员鲍登在内罗毕的记者会上说，索马里的安全形势这几个月来更为恶化。

"I think it's fair to say at the moment that in parts of Somalia people feel more insecure than ever before," said Bowden.

　

他说：“我认为，我们可以毫不夸张地说，目前索马里某些地区的民众比过去任何时候都感到更为恐慌不安。”

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.

　

他说，在索马里60%到80%的食品是进口的。当地有一百多万人因战乱而流离失所，这些人处境更为危难。

"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.

　

鲍登说：“我们目前估计到今年年底，有350万人将需要援助。不论根据哪种估算方式，差不多有一半人口将需要援助，这是令人胆颤心惊的庞大救援人数。”

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

　

联合国已经发出向索马里提供6亿3千7百万美元的人道救援资金的呼吁。而迄今为止，只有35%的款项到位。

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 piracy has been a growing concern.

　

世界粮食计划署的发言人斯默登说，他的机构正寻求在未来几个月内把向索马里发运的粮食增加一倍，但是这项任务由于索马里地面和近海区域的局面不稳而更加复杂化，在那里海盗抢劫已成为日益严重的问题。

"We are appealing for any government urgently now to step forward to provide naval 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.

　

斯默登说：“我们正在紧急呼吁任何国家的政府能立即挺身而出，为我们世界粮食计划署向索马里运送粮食的船只提供海路护航，保护他们免受海盗抢劫。在南非的另一艘船已签署合约前往摩加迪沙，如今却拒绝载运1万2千吨的谷物，除非得到护航支持。如果那1万2千吨谷物不能抵达摩加迪沙，一百万索马里人民8月将得不到任何谷类食物。”

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.

　

在埃塞俄比亚，约460万人需要紧急食品援助，还有近6百万人也需要国际援助。物价上涨对埃塞俄比亚的影响尤其严重，食品价格的通货膨胀率已达40%。

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.

　

斯默登说，世界粮食计划署通常的做法是在埃塞俄比亚境内购买粮食来执行这个机构的救援计划，但是在目前形势下，这样做只会导致价格进一步上涨。