UN Appeals For $25 Million For Tajikistan
聯合國吁募捐幫助塔吉克百萬災民

The United Nations is urgently appealing for more than $25 million to help some two million people in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan who are suffering from severe cold and energy shortages. The United Nations describes the crisis affecting Tajikistan as life threatening.

聯合國緊急呼吁募集超過兩千五百萬美元的資金，幫助中亞國家塔吉克斯坦的大約兩百萬正在忍受嚴寒和能源短缺的人。聯合國說，塔吉克斯坦的這場危機危及當地人的生命。

Tajikistan is facing the most severe winter in 25 years. And, it is having a devastating affect upon a country where 50 percent of the inhabitants live below the poverty line.

塔吉克斯坦出現了25年來最寒冷的冬季。嚴寒給這個有一半居民生活在貧困線以下的國家帶來了災難性的影響。

The United Nations estimates nearly one third of Tajikistan's population of seven million are suffering in different degrees from extreme cold, lack of fuel, food, clean water and ill health.

聯合國估計，極度寒冷的天氣，燃料、食物和潔凈水的缺乏以及疾病給塔吉克斯坦七百萬人口中的將近三分之一帶來不同程度的痛苦。

The country's hydroelectric power stations are barely producing any electricity, compounding the problems from the winter cold. This is causing a severe disruption of heating, water supplies and basic social services.

塔吉克斯坦的水電站幾乎不再發電，惡化了嚴寒帶來的問題，嚴重擾亂了供暖、供水和一些基本社會服務項目。

Gabriella Waaijman is the UN Humanitarian Agency's Regional Disaster Response Adviser for Central Asia. In an interview from Almaty, Khazakstan, she tells VOA that people in Tajikistan's urban areas are most affected by the energy crisis.

聯合國人道主義事務協調辦公室負責中亞地區的自然災害應急顧問瓦伊曼在哈薩克斯坦的阿拉木圖接受采訪時對美國之音說，塔吉克斯坦城市地區的居民受能源危機的影響最大。

"In some of the main urban centers, they have less than 10 hours of electricity a day," said Waaijman. "As a result, hospitals have frequent power outages and therefore access to health care is being affected. And, most importantly, or equally important, people have difficult access to clean drinking water because in urban areas, the drinking water is being pumped to the houses and a lack of electricity, of course, is affecting this ability to pump the water to the houses."

她說：“在一些主要的城市，供電時間每天不到十小時。結果，醫院經常停電，這就影響了人們得到醫療照料的途徑。更重要的是，或者同樣重要的是，人們很難喝到清潔的飲用水，因為在城市地區，飲用水是被水泵抽送到各家各戶的，很顯然，由于缺少電力，向居民泵水受到了影響。”

Waaijman says mass care facilities, such as schools, orphanages, hospitals and homes for the elderly are hardest hit by the energy crisis. And, these facilities now rely heavily on generators for the most essential services.

瓦伊曼說，受能源危機影響最嚴重的地方是學校、孤兒院、醫院和老人院這樣的公眾照料機構。這些機構目前嚴重依賴發電機來維持大部分核心工作的運轉。

The United Nations reports the economic and social shock resulting from the cold weather and lack of energy has worsened the food situation in rural areas.

聯合國的報告說，寒冷和能源短缺所導致的經濟和社會沖擊使農村地區的糧食問題更加嚴重。

Humanitarian agencies report at least one quarter of a million people need immediate food assistance and this number may reach one half million. The government says up to two million people may need food assistance through the end of winter.

人道救援機構的報告說，至少有25萬人需要立即得到食品援助，而且這一數字可能將升高到50萬。塔吉克斯坦政府說，到冬季結束時為止，需要食品援助的人可能會高達兩百萬。

U.N. official Waaijman says the coming of spring will be a mixed blessing. As temperatures rise, the ice will melt and this, she says will make more water available for the power generating plants.

聯合國官員瓦伊曼說，春季即將到來并不完全是好消息。她說，隨著氣溫升高，冰雪將會融化，這將使發電廠遭遇更多的水。

"The bad thing though about having more water available is that the snowfall this year has been so much more than normal, more than 200 percent more than normal, that we fear that if snow starts melting, that we will see an increase in flooding and mud slides and landslides in this region," said Waaijman.

她說：“水多也有不好的地方。由于今年的降雪量大大超過一般水平，是往年一般降雪量的三倍，所以我們擔心，一旦雪開始融化，我們會在這一地區看到更多的洪水、泥石流和山崩。”

Priority needs are for food, clean water, fuel, electrical power for heat and essential health care. The appeal also includes plans to avert life-threatening situations possible this spring.

現在，塔吉克斯坦人民最需要的是食品、潔凈水、供暖用的電力和基本的醫療照料。聯合國的呼吁還說，計劃可能在今年春天扭轉目前危及生命的局勢。

Aid agencies will reinforce systems to warn people of impending floods and landslides. They will provide critical shelter and livelihoods to communities, if these events do occur.

救援機構將建立警報系統，警告人們可能發生的洪水和山崩。一旦真的發生這些自然災害，救援機構還將為人們提供重要的避難所和生活資料。