UN report warns poverty goals likely to be missed

The infant death rate for African Americans in Washington DC is higher than that in the cities of the Indian state of Kerala， the United Nations has warned as part of a damning review of poverty and inequality around the world.

Published ahead of next week''s summit in New York to review progress in meeting goals to halve extreme poverty by 2015， the UN''s human development report says： US health indicators are far below those that might be expected on the basis of national wealth.

The report， published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)， says the outcome is due partly to persistent and extreme disparities between people from different social and ethnic groups， as shown by recent images of poor black people stranded in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.

The findings reflect a new focus by the UN upon differences within countries as well as between countries， as policymakers try to think of new ways to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs)， agreed in 2000.

India and China， which have both enjoyed sustained economic growth， face worrying challenges. There are worrying indications that social progress is starting to lag behind economic performance， with the slowdown in the rate of reduction in child deaths a special concern.

The UN notes that China spends 5 per cent of its GDP on health， but public spending now amounts to less than 2 per cent of GDP.

The erosion of public funding， it says， has resulted in a mismatch between need and provision， with per capita spending in urban areas 3.5 times that in rural areas.

Between 70 and 80 per cent of the rural population have no health insurance. Children living in the poorest parts of rural China face far greater health risks， and the gap is widening. The mortality rate for under-five-year-olds ranges from 8 per 1，000 in Beijing (comparable to the US)， to 60 in the poorest parts of Gui zhou (comparable to Namibia)。

一、參考譯文

聯(lián)合國警告說，美國首都華盛頓特區(qū)非裔美國人的嬰兒死亡率高于印度喀拉拉邦各城市。該警告是聯(lián)合國評估世界各地貧窮和不平等現(xiàn)象報(bào)告的一部分，聯(lián)合國對這些現(xiàn)象表示強(qiáng)烈不滿。

這份報(bào)告指出：“美國的健康指標(biāo)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)低于根據(jù)富裕程度所預(yù)期的水平。”此前聯(lián)合國曾制定目標(biāo)，希望到2015年將極端貧困人口減半。下周聯(lián)合國將在紐約召開峰會(huì)，回顧實(shí)現(xiàn)這一目標(biāo)的進(jìn)展。在峰會(huì)前，聯(lián)合國發(fā)表了這份人類發(fā)展報(bào)告?？荚嚧?/p>

聯(lián)合國開發(fā)計(jì)劃署(UNDP)發(fā)布的這份報(bào)告表示，這種結(jié)果部分是由于不同的社會(huì)群體和族裔群體之間存在著“持久的”和“極端的”不平等。最近美國新奧爾良的貧窮黑人因颶風(fēng)卡特里娜受困的景象就表明了這一點(diǎn)。

該報(bào)告的結(jié)論反映了聯(lián)合國在貧困問題上的新的關(guān)注焦點(diǎn)：不僅關(guān)注之間的不平等，而且也關(guān)注內(nèi)部的不平等。目前，各國的政策制定者試圖想出新方法，以實(shí)現(xiàn)2000年達(dá)成的千年發(fā)展目標(biāo)(MDGs)。

印度和中國經(jīng)濟(jì)持續(xù)增長，但也面臨令人擔(dān)憂的挑戰(zhàn)。聯(lián)合國的這份報(bào)告說：“有令人擔(dān)心的跡象表明，社會(huì)發(fā)展正開始落后于經(jīng)濟(jì)表現(xiàn)，兒童死亡率下降速度放緩尤為令人擔(dān)心。”

聯(lián)合國指出，中國花費(fèi)國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值的5%用于健康醫(yī)療，但公共支出目前占國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值的比例不足2%.

報(bào)告稱，公共資金被侵蝕，已導(dǎo)致“需求和供給之間的錯(cuò)配”，城市人均支出是農(nóng)村地區(qū)的3.5倍。

70%和80%之間的農(nóng)村人口沒有醫(yī)療保險(xiǎn)。居住在中國農(nóng)村最貧困地區(qū)的兒童面臨更大的健康風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，并且城鄉(xiāng)差距在擴(kuò)大。舉例來說，在北京，五歲以下兒童的死亡率為千分之八(與美國相當(dāng))，但在貴州最貧困的地區(qū)，五歲以下兒童的死亡率為千分之六十(與納米比亞相當(dāng))。

二、重點(diǎn)詞匯

Infant n.嬰兒，幼兒

Inequality n.不平等，不同，不等式，不平均， (表面)不平坦(用復(fù)數(shù))

Indicatoryadj.指示的，表示的

outcome n.結(jié)果，成果

persistentadj.持久穩(wěn)固的

extreme adj.盡頭的，極端的，極度的，偏激的，最后的

n.極端，極端的事物

ethnicadj.人種的，種族的，異教徒的

millennium n.太平盛世，一千年

concernvt.涉及，關(guān)系到

erosion n.腐蝕，侵蝕

provision n.供應(yīng)， (一批)供應(yīng)品，預(yù)備，防備，規(guī)定

insurance n.保險(xiǎn)，保險(xiǎn)單，保險(xiǎn)業(yè)，保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)

mortalityn.死亡率