伊琳娜•博科娃總幹事年國際掃盲日50週年致辭

Message from Ms. Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of the International Literacy Day, 50th Anniversary
聯合國教科文組織總幹事伊琳娜·博科娃女士在國際掃盲日50週年的致辭

8 September 2016
2016年9月8日

For fifty years, International Literacy Day has celebrated literacy as an empowering force for women and men and for society as a whole.
五十年來，國際掃盲日活動大力宣傳掃盲工作，強調掃盲是增強女性、男性以及整個社會權能的重要力量。

We have seen great progress since the proclamation of International Literacy Day by UNESCO in 1966. The world’s population has increased substantially, but the number of young adults without literacy skills decreased by 25 percent between 1990 and 2015. There has been movement in enhancing women’s opportunities to acquire literacy – 43 countries have shown major improvements in gender parity. The global Education for All movement spearheaded much positive change.
自從1966年教科文組織宣佈國際掃盲日以來，我們已經取得了長足的進步。雖然世界人口大幅增長，但青年文盲的數量在1990至2015年期間減少了25%。各國掀起運動，爲婦女提供更多習得讀寫技能的機會——有43個國家

But not enough. There remain today 758 million adults who cannot read or write a simple sentence. Two thirds of them are women. On the side-lines of the global village, they receive none of the benefits of globalization and suffer all its costs. These women and men are more vulnerable to ill heath, exploitation and human rights abuse. They are more likely to be unemployed and paid less. Unable to read or write, they are held back from their full potential, and whole communities are locked into vicious cycles of poverty that lay the conditions for violence and strife.
在性別均等方面取得了明顯改善。全球範圍內的全民教育運動引領了巨大的積極變化。 但這還不夠。今天仍有7.58億成年人不會讀寫簡單的句子，其中有三分之二是女性。他們處於地球村的邊緣，不僅沒有從全球化進程中獲益，反而爲此付出了代價。這些女性和男性更容易遭受疾病、剝削和侵犯人權行爲的傷害。他們更有可能失業或收入較低。由於不會讀寫，他們無法充分實現自己的潛能，整個社區也受困於助長暴力和衝突的貧窮的惡性循環。

Illiteracy remains synonymous with exclusion and poverty – we must turn this around.
文盲仍然意味着排斥和貧窮——我們必須扭轉這種局面。

This is the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, setting forth a new global vision of prosperity, sustainability and peace in 17 Sustainable Development Goals – including a specific goal to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. Literacy is essential to success across the board. A foundation for human rights and dignity, literacy is vital for poverty eradication, for gender equality, for more inclusive and sustainable societies. This is why we launch today the Global Alliance for Literacy, to mobilize investment and promote innovative initiatives, with a focus on gender and new information and communication technologies. We must seize every opportunity – we must work across all sectoral boundaries.
這就是2030年可持續發展議程的承諾。該議程通過17個可持續發展目標對繁榮、可持續發展與和平提出了嶄新的全球願景，而17個可持續發展目標中的一個特定目標是“提供包容和公平的優質教育，讓全民終身享有學習機會。”掃盲是在各個領域取得成功的關鍵。掃盲是人權和尊嚴的基礎，對消除貧困、實現性別平等、建設更加包容和可持續的社會起着至關重要的作用。這就是爲什麼我們今天啓動掃盲全球聯盟，動員投資，推動創新舉措，並特別關注性別問題和信息通信新技術。我們必須抓住每一個機會——我們必須開展跨部門工作。

The world has changed since 1966 – but our determination to provide every woman and man with the skills, capacities and opportunities to become everything they wish, in dignity and respect, remains as firm as ever. Literacy is a foundation to build a more sustainable future for all – this is UNESCO’s message.
1966年以來世界發生了許多變化——但我們的信念依舊堅定，決心爲每一個人提供技能、能力和機會，讓人們成就自己，有尊嚴，受尊重。掃盲是爲所有人創造更加可持續的未來的基礎——這就是教科文組織要傳遞的訊息。