"War in cities cannot be back-page news.”

UN newsに自分なりの注釈を付けます。語彙の定義は主にGoogle翻訳に依ります。たまに三省堂の『WISDAM』も参考にします。註は*で表します。語彙の定義の中にも分らない語彙があった場合**で註を表します。

 

UN and Red Cross chiefs appeal for end to use of explosive weapons in cities

With some 50 million people in urban areas suffering from the impact of armed conflict, war in cities “cannot be back page news”, the UN Secretary-General and the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday.

 

“When cities are bombed and shelled - whether by airstrikes, rockets, artillery*1 or improvised*2 explosive devices - civilians overwhelmingly*3 bear*4 the brunt*5,” they said.

“In fact, the large majority of casualties*6 – over 90 per cent, according to one estimate – are civilians. The harrowing images from population centres in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine – to name but a few – show a pattern of grave*7 civilian harm impossible to ignore, yet too often forgotten.”

Armed conflict in cities also damages and destroys hospitals, electric power plants and other infrastructure required for the functioning of basic services, thus adding to the suffering*8 experienced by civilians.

Those who survive find that life becomes unbearable and they are often forced to flee*9, such as the approximately 100,000 people displaced by heavy bombing and shelling in fighting around Tripoli, Libya, which began in April.

Destruction of development gains

Furthermore, massive destruction also threatens development gains*10. “For example, after the first four years of the armed conflict in Yemen, human development indicators dropped to their index of 20 years ago. This is a major setback to the achievement of many of the Sustainable Development Goals. Progress gained over decades can be quickly reversed as once lively and prospering*11 population centres turn into ghost towns”, they said.

The UN and Red Cross chiefs encourage countries to identify and share good practices*12 for mitigating the risk of civilian harm in urban armed conflict, such as restrictions*13 on the use of heavy explosive weapons in populated areas.

Warring parties*14 are urged to employ*15 strategies and tactics that reduce urban fighting while also allowing civilians to leave besieged areas.

The appeal points out*16 that Idlib, in Syria, as well as Tripoli, are currently enduring “untold suffering and destruction from a hail of bombs and shells”, but they are among a long list of other affected cities such as Mosul, Aleppo, Raqqa, Taiz, Donetsk, Fallujah and Sana’a.

“They rarely make the top headlines, but they should,” the two leaders said. "War in cities cannot be back-page news.” 

(https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/09/1046642)

語彙の定義

*1 artillery   :large_caliber gun used in warface on land.(大砲)

*2 improvise   :create and perform (music, drama, or verse) sponteneously**1 without any perparation

*3 overwhelming   :very grate in amount

*4 bear    :(of a person)carry  /  endure=withstand=stand

*5 brunt  :the worst part or chief impact of a specified thing    ex) Rural women bear the brunt  of the probrems caused by embironmental degradaion.

*6 casualty   :a person killed or injured in a war or accident

*7 grave   :more serious than serious

*8 suffering   :the state of undergoing pain, destress, or hardship

*9 flee   :run away from a place, or situation of danger

*10 gain   :obtain or secure(something desired, favorable, or profitable)

*11 prospering   :succeed in material terms; be financially succesfull

*12 practice   :the actual application or use of an idea, belife, or method as opposed to theories about such application or use 

*13 restrict   :put a limit on; keep under control

*14 warring   :(of two or more people or groups)in conflict with each other

 warring parties:戦争当事者 

*15 employ   :make use of

*16 point out:指摘する

**1spontaneus   :performed or occurring as aresult of a sudden inner impuls or inclination and without permeditation or external stimulus