Humanitarian Crisis Worsening in Horn of Africa
联合国称非洲之角人道危机加剧
The top U.N. humanitarian official says that conflict, drought, and the global food crisis are worsening the already dire situation in the Horn of Africa. This has left millions of people needing emergency food assistance to combat severe food shortages.
联合国负责人道主义事务的副秘书长霍姆斯说，冲突、干旱和全球食品危机正在使非洲之角地区本来就很危急的形势恶化。那里有数以百万计的人需要紧急食品援助来对抗严峻的食品短缺问题。
U.N. Humanitarian Chief John Holmes says that the long-standing crisis in the Horn of Africa has been made worse by the global food crisis.
联合国负责人道主义事务的副秘书长霍姆斯说，全球食品危机加剧了非洲之角地区长期以来的危机。
"The point is that large areas of the Horn of Africa, including parts of Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Uganda, and Kenya, are now in or sliding towards a humanitarian emergency," said John Holmes. "And we believe there are something like 14 million people now in urgent need of food aid and other humanitarian assistance in the coming months."
他说：“现在的问题是，包括埃塞俄比亚部分地区、索马里、厄立特里亚、吉布提、乌干达和肯尼亚在内的非洲之角的大部分地区都在滑向人道主义危机的深渊。我们相信，目前有大约1千4百万人急需在几个月后得到食品援助和其它人道救援物资。”
Holmes says drought and rising food and fuel prices have heightened the crisis along with on-going conflicts in many nations, particularly in Somalia.
霍姆斯说，干旱、食品涨价、高昂的燃料价格以及在许多国家，特别是索马里正在发生的冲突使危机更加严重。
"There is an intense conflict going on in parts of Somalia," he said. "We calculated something like 850,000 people have been forced to leave Mogadishu over the last year because of the fighting there. So, you have a compounded problem of the ordinary population with an additional population of newly displaced people facing these severe food shortages."
他说：“在索马里的一些地方正在发生激烈的冲突。根据我们的计算，在过去一年中，已经有大约85万人由于冲突而被迫离开了摩加迪沙。因此，不仅是普通大众，还有这些刚刚逃离家园的人都面临严峻的食品短缺问题。”
In Ethiopia, Holmes says a severe drought and diseases such as diarrhea, measles, and meningitis, have compounded the humanitarian crisis.
霍姆斯说，在埃塞俄比亚，一场严重干旱和痢疾、麻疹及髓膜炎等疾病的流行都加剧了人道危机。
"In Southern Ethiopia, where there is a severe drought, a joint assessment by the government and international humanitarian partners reveals that 4.6 million people were now in need of food emergency support," said Holmes. "And as part of those 4.7 million, we believe there is something like 75,000 children severely malnourished."
他说：“在埃塞俄比亚南部发生了严重的旱情，埃塞俄比亚政府和国际人道救援组织在那里共同进行的评估发现，目前有460万人需要紧急食品援助。在这460万人中，我们相信有大约7万5千名儿童严重营养不良。”
Holmes is urging the international community, as well as national governments, to ensure that the necessary resources are available to deal with this crisis and to curb the effects of malnutrition, including stunted growth and susceptibility to diseases.
霍姆斯敦促国际社会和各国政府确保必要物资到位，以应对这场危机，并减轻营养不良带来的生长萎缩及容易患上疾病等后果。
