FROM THE FIELD: COVID-19 just the latest crisis facing Somalia

16 June 2020

UN Health

Devastating?floods, desert locusts?and the COVID-19 pandemic constitute?a ‘triple threat’, that risks reversing political and security gains made in Somalia?in recent years, the United Nations is warning.

Devastating/?dev?ste?t??/ causing a lot of damage and destruction 破壞性極大的；毀滅性的;extremely shocking to a person 令人震驚的；駭人的; impressive and powerful 給人印象深刻的；令人欽佩的；強有力的

locust /?l??k?st/a large insect that lives in hot countries and flies in large groups, destroying all the plants and crops of an area 蝗蟲?eg. a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗蟲

constitute /?k?nst?tju?t/1.[ V-N ] ( not used in the progressive tenses 不用于進行時 ) to be considered to be sth （被認為或看做）是；被算作2.[ V-N ] ( not used in the progressive tenses 不用于進行時 ) to be the parts that together form sth 組成；構成?Female workers constitute the majority of the labour force. 女性雇員占勞動力的多數。3.[ VN ] [ usually passive ] to form a group legally or officially （合法或正式地）成立，設立

Somalia?/s??mɑ?li?/索馬里

Close to 500,000 people have been?displaced and more than a million affected, by recent floods in Somalia’s central regions; a severe?locust?infestation?which threatens food security and nutrition; and at the same time, as the?country is responding?to the spread of?COVID-19.

displaced ：1.V-T If one thing displaces another, it forces the other thing out of its place, position, or role, and then occupies that place, position, or role itself. 取代? ?These factories have displaced tourism as the country's largest source of foreign exchange. ?這些工廠已經取代了旅游業(yè)而成為該國最大的外匯來源。

2.?V-T If a person or group of people is displaced, they are forced to move away from the area where they live. 使背井離鄉(xiāng)

infestation/??nfe?ste??n/ 感染，侵擾?負面詞匯

The?UN Office for?the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs?(OCHA) is calling for swift action from the international community, to avoid a major humanitarian crisis in a country whose ability to cope with disasters is significantly less than that of surrounding countries.

Humanitarian?/hju??m?n??te?ri?n/ concerned with reducing suffering and improving the conditions that people live in 人道主義的（主張減輕人類苦難、改善人類生活）；慈善的

?UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs：聯(lián)合國人道主義事物協(xié)調辦公室

swift ：~ (to do sth) happening or done quickly and immediately; doing sth quickly 迅即發(fā)生的；馬上做出的；迅速的???swift action快速反應

cope with：處理，應對

The pandemic has led to major disruption nationwide, including a reduction in remittances?from the diaspora, a mainstay?for many Somalis, and a reduction in casual labour opportunities due to COVID-19 restrictions.

remittance?/r??m?tns/1.[ C ] ( formal ) a sum of money that is sent to sb in order to pay for sth 匯款金額2.[ U ] the act of sending money to sb in order to pay for sth 匯付；匯款

diaspora?/da???sp?r?/ 1.the diaspora the movement of the Jewish people away from their own country to live and work in other countries （猶太人的）大流散2. the movement of people from any nation or group away from their own country （任何民族的）大移居

mainstay/?me?nste?/~ (of sth) a person or thing that is the most important part of sth and enables it to exist or be successful 支柱；中流砥柱? Cocoa is the country's economic mainstay. 可可是這個國家的經濟支柱。

原文鏈接：https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/06/1066422