潘基文国际扫盲日致辞

　　Secretary-General’s Message on World Literacy Day

　　秘书长国际扫盲日致辞

　　8 September 2013

　　2013年9月8日

　　More than 773 million young people and adults around the world cannot read this message. They are among the ranks of our fellow citizens who have not yet gained full literacy skills. They may not be able to fill out a job application, decipher a bus timetable or read a story aloud to their children. Two out of three are women who are denied this essential ingredient to full participation in society.

　　全世界有7.73亿以上的年青人和成年人不会念这份致辞。他们是我们的同胞，但却还没有充分掌握识字技能。他们可能无法填写求职申请书、辨认汽车时刻表或大声朗读故事给子女听。其中三分之二是妇女，她们被剥夺了充分参与社会的这一基本要素。

　　In our knowledge-based era, literacy is a foundation for a more just, inclusive and sustainable world. It can advance all the Millennium Development Goals. Literacy enables people to gain access to information to improve their health and nutrition, widen their livelihood options, cope with environmental change and make informed choices.

　　在我们这个立足于知识的时代，识字是实现一个更加公平、更具包容性和更可持续世界的基础。 识字可以推动各项千年发展目标，可以使人们获取信息，改善自身的健康和营养，可以拓宽谋生手段，应对环境变化和作出明智的选择。

　　When we invest in learning and literacy, we invest in human dignity, development and peace. That is why I launched the Global Education First Initiative, which focuses on ensuring that every child can go to school. Worldwide at least 250 million primary-school–age children cannot read, write or count. Half of these girls and boys never make it to school or are pushed out before their fourth year. Another 200 million adolescents, including those who completed secondary school, do not have basic literacy skills -- and so our initiative also focuses on improving the quality of education as well as fostering global citizenship.

　　当我们为学习和识字进行投资时，我们是在投资于人的尊严、发展与和平。这就是我启动“教育第一全球倡议”，确保每名儿童都能上学的目的。全世界至少有2.5亿小学学龄儿童不会读写或计算。其中半数男孩和女孩根本没机会上学，或还没有上到四年级就辍学了。另有2亿青少年，包括上完中学的人没有掌握基本的识字技能－因此，我们的倡议还侧重于提高学习质量，以及培养全球公民。

　　I urge all countries to make education and literacy national priorities and to work with partners across society to advance these goals. By promoting literacy, we can help millions of people write their own chapter of opportunity in their lives and our common future.

　　我敦促所有国家将教育和识字作为国家优先事项，与社会各界伙伴共同努力推动这些目标。通过促进识字，我们可以帮助数以百万计的人书写他们人生的机会篇章，并书写我们共同的未来。