UN Holds Food Crisis Talks in Switzerland (1/2)


U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon says the steeply rising price of food has developed into a global crisis. He says the U.N.-sponsored meeting in Bern must find solutions to a problem that is increasing poverty, hunger and instability in the world.

The United Nations estimates about 100 million of the world's poorest people cannot afford to buy food. Because of the spiraling costs, the World Food Program says its original budget for this year is not enough to feed all the hungry. It is appealing for an additional three quarters of $1 billion to meet the extra expenses.

The U.N. refugee agency says millions of refugees and internally displaced people will be particularly hard hit by skyrocketing food prices. Spokesman, Ron Redmond, says most of these people are totally dependent on food donations from the international community.

"This kind of dramatic price increases can also trigger instability, particularly in poor countries and this is of great concern to UNHCR as well, because we are already seeing this happening in several countries. Of course, the possibility could be eventual increased displacement should it trigger further conflict and instability in those countries."

参考译文：

联合国秘书长潘基文说激增的粮价已经引发全球危机。他说联合国这次在伯尔尼的会议必须要找到应对全球加剧的贫穷、饥饿和动荡问题的解决方案。

联合国预计世界上约有1亿最贫穷的人买不起食物。由于波动的成本，世界食品项目组织谈到，今年原先的粮食预算已经无法满足所有饥饿的贫穷人群。该组织呼吁追加7.5亿美元以满足额外的开支。

联合国难民署说上百万的难民以及国内流离失所者最容易受飞涨的粮价的冲击。发言人郎•雷蒙德说，这些人绝大部分依赖于国际社会的粮食捐助。

“这种戏剧性增长的价格还会引发动荡，尤其是在贫穷的国家。这也是联合国难民事务高级专员署最关注的问题，因为我们已经在几个国家看到这类事件发生。而且，这些国家的冲突和不稳定持续加剧的话，难民流离失所的问题可能会更严重。”





TAG: voa,voa下载,voa慢速英语,voa英语,voa news,voa english,voa special,voa听力,美国之音