For fifty years, International Literacy Day has celebrated literacy as an empowering force for women and men and for society as a whole.
五十年来,国际扫盲日活动大力宣传扫盲工作,强调扫盲是增强女性、男性以及整个社会权能的重要力量。
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.
自从1966年教科文组织宣布国际扫盲日以来,我们已经取得了长足的进步。虽然世界人口大幅增长,但青年文盲的数量在1990至2015年期间减少了25%。各国掀起运动,为妇女提供更多习得读写技能的机会——有43个国家
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.
在性别均等方面取得了明显改善。全球范围内的全民教育运动引领了巨大的积极变化。 但这还不够。今天仍有7.58亿成年人不会读写简单的句子,其中有三分之二是女性。他们处于地球村的边缘,不仅没有从全球化进程中获益,反而为此付出了代价。这些女性和男性更容易遭受疾病、剥削和侵犯人权行为的伤害。他们更有可能失业或收入较低。由于不会读写,他们无法充分实现自己的潜能,整个社区也受困于助长暴力和冲突的贫穷的恶性循环。
Illiteracy remains synonymous with exclusion and poverty – we must turn this around.
文盲仍然意味着排斥和贫穷——我们必须扭转这种局面。
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.
这就是2030年可持续发展议程的承诺。该议程通过17个可持续发展目标对繁荣、可持续发展与和平提出了崭新的全球愿景,而17个可持续发展目标中的一个特定目标是"提供包容和公平的优质教育,让全民终身享有学习机会。"扫盲是在各个领域取得成功的关键。扫盲是人权和尊严的基础,对消除贫困、实现性别平等、建设更加包容和可持续的社会起着至关重要的作用。这就是为什么我们今天启动扫盲全球联盟,动员投资,推动创新举措,并特别关注性别问题和信息通信新技术。我们必须抓住每一个机会——我们必须开展跨部门工作。
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年以来世界发生了许多变化——但我们的信念依旧坚定,决心为每一个人提供技能、能力和机会,让人们成就自己,有尊严,受尊重。扫盲是为所有人创造更加可持续的未来的基础——这就是教科文组织要传递的讯息。