| | Words in the News |
INTRO | | Ethiopia accused the international community of not responding quickly enough to calls for food supplies to head off famine. BBC correspondent Peter Biles reported. |
IN FULL | |  | Listen to the report in full |
 |  | 6th April 2000
Aid to Ethiopia 'too slow' |
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NEWS 1 | | | Listen to the first part of the report |
| | | The director of the UN World Food Programme here, Judith Lewis, said it was an overstatement to suggest that the West was dragging its feet, though she admitted that there were difficulties in getting food aid to some of the worst affected areas, such as the Ogaden region in the south-east, which borders Somalia. It's an area characterized by insecurity. Local aid workers have already reported famine-relateddeaths and cases of malnutrition. The UN is now considering the possibility of starting airlifts to transport food aid to one of the main centres, Goday. |
WORDS | | overstatement: a way of describing something that makes it seem more important or serious than it really is
the West: refers here to the world's richer countries
dragging its feet: being deliberately slow in doing something or in making a decision. (Judith Lewis feels that the West has not been slow although there are problems.) famine-related deaths: if two things are related, there is connection between them. Here, people are dying as a result of lack of food
malnutrition: physical weakness caused by not eating enough food of the right kind
airlifts:here, an operation to carry food by airplane |
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| NEWS 2 | | | Listen to the second part of the report |
| | | Yesterday the Ethiopian government expressed its frustration, saying that the international response to its appeals for assistance had been far too slow. Only now, four months after Ethiopia sounded the alarm, are large pledges of aid being made by donors and it’ll be several more months at best before much of that aid gets into the country and reaches those in need. |
| WORDS | | frustration: a feeling of anger or distress because you cannot do what you want to do
appeal: an appeal here is an urgent request for help Only now.....are: Putting the verb are after Only now stresses the delay sounded the alarm: warned people of the danger of a famine
pledges: solemn promises to do something donors: organisations (or individuals) who give money or other help to those who need it |
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| | | Read about the background in BBC News Online |
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