Welcome, OFONMBUK ESSIEN, to the NITI Exam Hall
Please identify yourself and translate the two texts below.
You have a maximum of 100 MINUTES beginning from now. Good luck.
You have a maximum of 100 MINUTES beginning from now. Good luck.
SOURCE TEXT 1: French-EnglishSommes-nous sincèrement résolus à enrayer la pauvreté qui sévit parmi nous? La plupart d’entre nous, au Ghana et en Afrique répondraient « oui » à cette question.
Sommes-nous les héritiers de la civilisation de notre peuple ? Oui, à mon avis. Alors, si nous voulons changer la civilisation des années à venir, pour notre peuple, l’éducation de nos enfants ne serait-elle pas la cible privilégiée de nos efforts ? Je pense que oui. Toute tentative de recherche d’une vie meilleure pour la race noire doit passer par la qualité de la formation de nos jeunes, d’un an à dix-sept ans. Aurons-nous besoin de l’aide de l’extérieur? C’est-à-dire de ceux qui ne sont ni Ghanéens, ni Africains, ni Noirs ? La sagesse profonde derrière la formation des organisations internationales comme la CEDEAO, l’UA et l’ONU révèle la nécessité même de cette collaboration internationale. Il est extrêmement urgent de voir ce que l’on peut toujours apprendre chez son voisin, sur cette voie très large et très étendue du développement de l’homme et des pays. Est-ce que le développement de l’homme s’acquiert complètement au hasard ? Devons-nous laisser tout à la chance et vivre au jour le jour ? Ce ne serait pas là, la voie du développement. Non pas du tout. Que faire alors pour nos enfants et nos jeunes pour sortir les générations futures des conditions accablantes de pauvreté qui existent un peu partout chez nous ? 1. Disons la vérité à l’enfant qui naît que la vie est un combat dès le premier jour de sa naissance dans ce monde. L’esprit combatif pour la réussite individuelle n’est pas suffisamment inculqué à nos jeunes. Nous sommes élevés à nous sentir trop confortables et securisés au sein de la famille étendue. Les parents naturels et légitimes ne sont pas, en réalité, les garde-fous sûrs et certains qu’on croit avoir quand on est jeune ; ils nous quittent parfois pour l’autre monde au moment où on a le plus besoin d’eux. Vrai ou faux ? Alors, un esprit de jeune formé à affronter les aléas de la vie quotidienne deviendra, un jour, à mon avis, un esprit d’adulte capable d’affronter les défis les plus redoutables de la vie en général, y compris la mort. Un peuple ainsi formé, robuste dans tous les sens, armé pour la conquête individuelle de son monde, constitue, à mon avis, la base même d’une civilisation avancée. 2. Disons à nos jeunes que la valeur de leur vie, en tant que citoyens de pays en voie de développement, réside dans leur contribution individuelle à la résolution des multiples problèmes de nos sociétés, et non pas dans l’obtention de diplômes et de titres sans contribution à une vie meilleure des siens, ni dans la possession de millions de dollars sans un investissement financier à l’avancement de sa société. Il n’y a rien de mal à la formation supérieure ni à être riche dans la vie. Ce que l’on doit faire pour nos jeunes, c’est de leur dire que le savoir et la richesse ne constituent pas des fins en soi mais des moyens pour servir et pour faire avancer notre société. |
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SOURCE TEXT 2: English-French
For the first time in the 25-year history of climate diplomacy, countries concluded a universal treaty under international law – the December 2015 Paris Agreement - rekindling lost hope on a collective and genuine effort to tackle climate change. African countries, along with the rest of the world, submitted national climate pledges also known as intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs), aimed at stabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration in the atmosphere to a level that does not pose a danger to life on earth. While Africa is the lowest contributor of global emissions, it is the most vulnerable continent to climate change with majority of its population relying on the land for subsistence and economic activity. According to the 2015 UN Environment Programme’s Adaptation Gap Report, Africa could require between US$20 -30 billion dollars annually over the next 10-20 years to meet its climate change adaptation needs. As such there is a need for developed countries to ramp up financial contributions, and on the other hand, for support to African countries to access global climate finance.
The Paris Agreement provides the basis for this support. Article 9 paragraph 1 states “Developed country Parties shall provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties with respect to both mitigation and adaptation in continuation of their existing obligations under the Convention.” The global climate finance architecture, consisting of multilateral, bilateral, private and public sources of funds is complex, keeps evolving and presents a daunting task for African countries to navigate. Given the renewed commitment and political momentum generated by the Paris Agreement, will climate finance flow to Africa, notwithstanding past failures? With some notable exceptions, African countries have, to date, not registered any success in leveraging climate finance to achieve transformational low-carbon, climate-resilient impacts. Among the challenges is that while climate change adaptation is a priority for the continent, global climate financial flows have been mainly directed towards mitigation.
In addition to strong institutions and systems, different capacities are needed to access or mobilise climate funds, such as the ability to draft innovative, transformative and bankable proposals along with specialised technical skills, the ability to deliver the funds (absorptive capacity) and the ability to account for the use of funds through effective monitoring reporting, and verification. Negotiation capacity is particularly important for win-win public-private partnerships. The Green Climate Fund (GCF), set up in 2010 to mobilize USD100 billion by 2020 to channel to developing countries, is poised to become the principal vehicle for securing and distributing balanced adaptation and mitigation climate finance, opening up new opportunities for Africa.
UNDP is an accredited entity of the GCF and is well-positioned to assist African countries to access funds. At the 2015 first round of the GCF allocation meeting, UNDP was successful in mobilising US$ 12.3 million for Malawi focused on scaling up climate information and early warning systems, and US$ 23.6 million for the Maldives to support communities to manage water shortages.
The Paris Agreement provides the basis for this support. Article 9 paragraph 1 states “Developed country Parties shall provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties with respect to both mitigation and adaptation in continuation of their existing obligations under the Convention.” The global climate finance architecture, consisting of multilateral, bilateral, private and public sources of funds is complex, keeps evolving and presents a daunting task for African countries to navigate. Given the renewed commitment and political momentum generated by the Paris Agreement, will climate finance flow to Africa, notwithstanding past failures? With some notable exceptions, African countries have, to date, not registered any success in leveraging climate finance to achieve transformational low-carbon, climate-resilient impacts. Among the challenges is that while climate change adaptation is a priority for the continent, global climate financial flows have been mainly directed towards mitigation.
In addition to strong institutions and systems, different capacities are needed to access or mobilise climate funds, such as the ability to draft innovative, transformative and bankable proposals along with specialised technical skills, the ability to deliver the funds (absorptive capacity) and the ability to account for the use of funds through effective monitoring reporting, and verification. Negotiation capacity is particularly important for win-win public-private partnerships. The Green Climate Fund (GCF), set up in 2010 to mobilize USD100 billion by 2020 to channel to developing countries, is poised to become the principal vehicle for securing and distributing balanced adaptation and mitigation climate finance, opening up new opportunities for Africa.
UNDP is an accredited entity of the GCF and is well-positioned to assist African countries to access funds. At the 2015 first round of the GCF allocation meeting, UNDP was successful in mobilising US$ 12.3 million for Malawi focused on scaling up climate information and early warning systems, and US$ 23.6 million for the Maldives to support communities to manage water shortages.