世衛組織撤回對穆加貝的親善大使任命

The World Health Organization has abandoned its choice of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president, as goodwill ambassador after an international outcry following the announcement.

世界衛生組織(WHO)撤銷了選擇津巴布韋總統羅伯特?穆加貝(Robert Mugabe)擔任親善大使的決定。此前這一任命在宣佈後遭到了國際社會的強烈抗議。

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the Geneva-based organisation, said in a statement yesterday that he had “reflected” over the past few days on the suitability of Mr Mugabe for the position.

總部位於日內瓦的世衛組織的總幹事譚德塞(Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus)昨日在一份聲明中表示，過去幾天他對穆加貝擔任這一職位的合適性作了“反思”。

“As a result I have decided to rescind the appointment,” he said. Mr Tedros added that, after consultations with the government of Zimbabwe, “we have concluded that this decision is in the best interests of the World Health Organization”.

“結果我決定撤回任命，”他表示。譚德塞補充說，在與津巴布韋政府磋商後，“我們得出結論認爲，這一決定符合世界衛生組織的最佳利益”。

The appointment of Mr Mugabe as goodwill ambassador for non-communicable diseases had provoked a fierce backlash from international human rights groups and a call from at least one politician to suspend WHO funding.

任命穆加貝爲防治非傳染性疾病親善大使的決定，遭到了國際人權團體的激烈反對，還有至少一名政界人士呼籲暫停資助世衛組織。

The decision to name Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old leader had been seen by many as a big miscalculation by Mr Tedros, an Ethiopian who was elected the first African head of the WHO in May.

在很多人眼裏，任命93歲的津巴布韋領導人的決定，是譚德塞的一個重大誤判。埃塞俄比亞人譚德塞今年5月當選爲世衛組織總幹事，他是首位出任此職的非洲人。

Mr Tedros’s own appointment, though popular in Africa, was controversial. Critics questioned his fitness for the job in light of his participation, as health minister, in Ethiopia’s authoritarian government, as well as his alleged cover-up of a cholera epidemic.

譚德塞自己的任命雖然在非洲很受歡迎，但也是有爭議的。鑑於他作爲衛生部長時是埃塞俄比亞威權政府的一員，據稱還曾掩蓋霍亂疫情，批評者質疑他出任這一職務的合適性。

Before the WHO’s apparent reversal over Mr Mugabe, several health and public policy experts had urged Mr Tedros to think again. Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said the decision to appoint Mr Mugabe was deeply disappointing and wrong, and called on Mr Tedros to reverse it.

世衛組織在任命穆加貝問題上改變決定之前，多名衛生和公共政策專家敦促譚德塞再好好想一想。維康信託(Wellcome Trust)基金會主任傑里米?法勒(Jeremy Farrar)表示，任命穆加貝的決定是令人深感失望和錯誤的，他呼籲譚德塞撤銷這個決定。

“Robert Mugabe fails in every way to represent the values WHO should stand for?.?.?.?Brave leaders are willing to listen, rethink and overturn bad decisions; this is one such case,” he said.

“羅伯特?穆加貝在任何一個方面都無法代表世衛組織應該奉行的價值觀……勇敢的領導人是願意聆聽、反思和推翻糟糕的決定的；這件事就是一個這樣的情況，”他表示。

Mr Tedros said he welcomed the criticisms. “I depend on constructive debate to help and inform the work I have been elected to do,” he said.

譚德塞表示，他對這些批評表示歡迎。“對於我被選上來要做的工作，我依靠建設性的辯論來爲這份工作提供幫助和啓迪，”他說。

Mr Mugabe, who has run Zimbabwe for 37 years, has been widely condemned for human rights abuses and for presiding over the collapse of the country’s economy. Although he has won grudging praise for Zimbabwe’s partial success in countering the high prevalence of HIV-Aids, he has also been criticised for his strident opposition to homosexuality.

執掌津巴布韋已有37年的穆加貝，被廣泛譴責爲侵犯人權和搞垮國家經濟。雖然津巴布韋在抗擊艾滋病毒高感染率方面取得的部分成功使他勉強獲得一些肯定，但他也因爲嚴厲反對同性戀而受到批評。

Mr Tedros, who as Ethiopian health minister emphasised the importance of bringing basic healthcare to rural communities, has praised Mr Mugabe for running a country “that places universal health coverage and health promotion at the centre of its policies to provide healthcare to all”. He said Zimbabwe’s leader, who remains popular in parts of Africa because of his defiant anti-colonial rhetoric, was ideally placed to “influence his peers”.

譚德塞在擔任埃塞俄比亞衛生部長期間，曾經強調向農村地區提供基本醫療保健服務的重要性。此前他讚揚穆加貝領導的國家“將全民醫療覆蓋和健康促進放在普及醫療服務政策的中心”。他表示，因爲反殖民主義言論而在非洲一些地方仍享有較高人氣的津巴布韋領導人，是“影響同仁們”的理想人選。