[ti:Jill Biden Visits Africa for First Time as First Lady] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Jill Biden arrived in Namibia Wednesday [00:03.84]for her first visit to Africa as first lady, [00:07.88]the wife of U.S. President Joe Biden. [00:12.12]Biden's trip will bring attention to women's rights, [00:15.44]children's issues and food insecurity. [00:20.44]Judd Devermont is senior director [00:23.52]for African Affairs with the U.S. National Security Council. [00:27.72]On Tuesday, he told reporters: [00:31.40]"Dr. Biden's trip builds on last year's U.S.- Africa Leaders' summit [00:36.80]and as another demonstration of President Biden's commitment [00:41.44]that the United States is all-in on Africa..." [00:46.68]With this visit, Jill Biden is also the first first lady [00:51.48]to visit Namibia since the southwest African nation [00:55.36]became independent in 1990. [00:59.48]National Security Council spokesperson Becky Farmer [01:03.60]said Biden will bring attention [01:05.88]to the food security crisis in the Horn of Africa. [01:10.72]The area is having the "worst drought [01:13.16]that this region has experienced" in many years, she said. [01:16.60]Farmer added that over 20 million people [01:20.12]are experiencing food insecurity in the area. [01:24.64]President Biden discussed the situation in December [01:28.44]when he announced aid for the area [01:30.88]at the African Leaders summit in Washington. [01:34.12]He discussed it again Tuesday [01:37.12]while talking about the effects of Russia's war in Ukraine [01:41.52]on world food supplies. [01:45.40]"Putin tried to starve the world," he said. [01:48.64]President Biden accused [01:50.72]the Russian leader of blocking ports on the Black Sea [01:54.40]and preventing Ukraine from exporting grain to Africa. [02:00.20]"And this week my wife, Jill Biden, is traveling to Africa [02:05.04]to help bring attention to this critical issue," Biden said. [02:10.64]The Biden administration is making efforts to get Africa [02:14.72]to support Ukraine instead of Russia. [02:18.32]Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen [02:20.96]recently visited Senegal, Zambia and South Africa. [02:25.68]Russia's foreign minister has visited many African nations [02:30.28]with ties to Russia like Mali, Sudan and Angola. [02:36.16]China sent its new foreign minister to Africa [02:40.28]for his first overseas trip. [02:42.72]Observers say it is a sign of China's interest in Africa. [02:48.92]Presidential-spouse visits are different [02:51.60]from the strategic policy moves of the presidency. [02:55.24]Jill Biden herself points out [02:58.20]that she is not an official of the U.S. government. [03:02.64]"As spouses, we serve the people of our countries, too. Don't we?" [03:07.76]she said in December, at a gathering of spouses of African leaders. [03:14.04]U.S. first ladies are generally well received in Africa, said Katherine Jellison. [03:20.52]Jellison is a professor of U.S. women's history at Ohio University. [03:27.36]"There's just going to be warmer feelings [03:29.92]toward a nonpolitician who's visiting than a politician," she said. [03:36.36]First lady Laura Bush was welcomed during her several visits to Africa. [03:41.68]She supported the programs of her husband George W. Bush's administration, [03:47.52]which aimed to fight HIV/AIDS and malaria. [03:52.12]She also attended the swearing in of the Africa's first female president, [03:57.76]Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in 2006. [04:03.04]The first Black first lady Michelle Obama's travel to Africa [04:07.76]was filled with deep meaning. [04:09.88]She used her trips to push for girls' education. [04:15.24]Jill Biden visited Africa five times [04:18.80]when her husband was vice president. [04:20.96]In 2011 she visited Africa's largest refugee camp at Dadaab in Kenya. [04:28.96]During a speech there, she made a plea she may repeat on this trip. [04:35.28]"Mothers are bringing their children from Somalia, [04:38.44]walking sometimes 15, 20, 25 days [04:43.04]and they lose their children along the way, the children die," she said. [04:48.40]"So what I'm asking is for Americans just to help ... [04:52.56]because the situation here is dire." [04:56.12]I'm Dan Novak. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM