伊琳娜·博科娃总干事2013年国际消除贫困日致辞（中英对照）

Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

教科文组织总干事伊琳娜•博科娃国际消除贫困日致辞

17 October 2013

2013年10月17日

The eradication of poverty must be the absolute priority of any development policy. Extreme poverty is an impediment to the full exercise of human rights, an obstacle to development and a threat to peace.

消除贫困应该成为所有发展政策要考虑的头等大事。极端贫困是对充分享有人权的制约，是对发展的桎梏，是对和平的威胁。

Millions of people are still victims of famine—842 million people continued to suffer from chronic hunger between 2011 and 2013. How can we imagine that lasting peace and sustainable development may be built in these conditions? This is an insult to society and the notion of human dignity and it requires our full attention.

我们地球上一直有几亿人过着忍饥挨饿的生活，从2011年到2013年，共有八亿四千二百万人处在长期饥饿状态。在这样的情况下，怎能想象去构建持久和平和可持续发展？贫困是对人类社会和人类尊严的侵犯，我们不得不正视它，不得不唤醒人类大家庭去共同面对。

A leap forward is possible, solutions do exist—starting with education, which opens the door to social inclusion, skills and employment. Education is the most important foundation to build equal societies, especially for women. Education empowers and it improves crop yields, health and children’s lives.

改变是可能的，出路是存在的，首要的办法是加强教育，因为教育可以开启通向社会参与、能力建设以及就业工作的门户，教育也是建设平等社会的主要工具，尤其对于妇女们来说。通过教育，可以获得自主地位，可以改善收入、健康以及孩子们的生活。

Beyond economic indicators, material resources and “dollars per day” thresholds, poverty is a question of social inclusion and the ability of individuals to control and give meaning to their lives. Achieving progress in eliminating poverty will depend on finding innovative solutions to tackle its economic, social and ethical aspects. In recent years, the role played by culture and cultural activities has attracted the attention of those engaged in these efforts. The results of the Culture and Development projects led by UNESCO demonstrate the potential of the creative industries as well as the craft and cultural sectors to create jobs and facilitate social dialogue, inclusion and self-esteem. Cultural heritage and creativity belong to the peoples of the world and can be used to build balanced development. Full recognition must be given to the potential of culture in the post-2015 development agenda.

贫困不仅涉及到经济指数、物质财富及按“美元/日”确定的均值，也涉及到社会包容，涉及到每个人是否能够充分主宰自己的命运、为自己的生命赋予价值和意义。解决贫困问题的未来途径取决于富有创建的思路和手段，能够直接面对与贫困有关的经济、社会与伦理等多方面问题。最近一些年，文化及文化活动的作用特别引起了从事开展消除贫困工作的各方面人士的注意。由教科文组织牵头的“文化与发展”项目实施所取得的成就，展示出创意产业、手工业以及文化部门在创造就业与促进社会对话、社会包容以及自我尊重方面潜力无限。文化遗产和文化创造属于各国人民，以此为基础可以构建完全可控的发展。在2015年后可持续发展新日程中应该充分承认文化事业所蕴含的潜力。

The goal is not to reduce but to eradicate poverty—to get to zero. This is within our reach. Poverty is declining at an unprecedented rate. In 1990, 43% of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty on less than $1.25 a day. Today, this applies to only 21%—still far too high a figure. Humanity cannot look to the future when millions of people are chained to the task of day-to-day survival. Lasting peace and sustainable development are impossible while these levels of inequality persist. We can achieve success if we act urgently and with conviction—in this spirit. I call upon governments, civil society along with the private and public sector today to create more wealth and to share better available wealth, for the greater good of humanity.

我们的目标不是为了消减贫困而是为了消除贫困，将贫困现象的存在归零。这一目标伸手可及。贫困现象正以前所未有的速度消遁。1990年，世界人口的43 %生活在极端贫困之中，人均每日不足1.25美元。今天，这一比例已经下降到21 %。然而，这一比例还是太高。当数百万人还在为每天怎样温饱度日饱受煎熬的时候，人类是不可能一心一意投向未来的。只要不平等现象在这个水平上存在，任何持久和平、任何可持续发展都是不可能的。此时此刻，怀着迫切的心情和定然成功的信念，我向所有的政府、公民社会、私营与公营部门的各界人士呼吁，为了人类共同的福祉去创造财富，去更公平地分配现有的财富！