This year’s International Women’s Day is inspired by the theme of ‘Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women.’ This goes to the heart of UNESCO’s mission. We work to strengthen the bridges between education, training, science and technology and the labour market in order to promote equal opportunity to decent employment. This starts early, with quality education for all girls and young women from the primary to the tertiary level. It continues with vocational training and education for women who have not acquired basic skills. It proceeds with creating positive role models and career tracks – especially in such areas as science and technology.

今年國際婦女節弘揚的主題是“平等接受教育、培訓和利用科技的權利：婦女通往體面工作之路”。這正是教科文組織的核心使命。我們努力加強教育、培訓、科技與勞動市場之間的銜接，從而促進平等的體面就業機會。為此需要從更早期入手，為所有女孩和女青年提供從小學到大學階段有質量的教育。要繼續為沒有掌握基本技能的婦女提供職業培訓與教育，并進而樹立積極的表率模式和職業途徑--尤其是在科技等領域。

These goals guide UNESCO’s work in leading the Education for All initiative. They inspire our partnership with L’Oreal to promote women in scientific research. They explain our work in Pakistan to support income generation for women after the floods of 2010 and to increase literacy among women in Afghanistan.

這些目標引導著教科文組織牽頭開展全民教育活動，也激勵我們與歐萊雅開展合作，促進婦女開展科學研究。正是為了這些目標，我們在2010年洪災后與巴基斯坦一起支持為婦女開展創收活動，以及努力讓更多的阿富汗婦女掃盲。

UNESCO is geared up to do much more – to work with official and private sector partners to provide system-wide policy support for governments, to enhance nonformal education and to open learning opportunities for adult women. UNESCO has real leadership in these areas, and we will make the most of this.

教科文組織已經準備就緒，將為此做更多的工作--與官方和私營部門合作伙伴一起，向各國政府提供全系統的政策支持，進一步為成年婦女提供非正規教育和開放式學習的機會。教科文組織在這些領域可以發揮切實的領導作用，我們將充分利用這一機會。

Without basic skills, decent work has become a distant dream for too many women. The worlds of science and technology – so important for our lives today – remain beyond the reach of most. Human rights are being violated. Tremendous talents are being lost. This International Women’s’ Day is a chance for us all to address these challenges. In times of economic difficulty, there is no better investment.

對許多沒有基本技能的婦女來說，要想得到體面的工作那是一個遙遠的夢想。對我們今天的生活如此重要的科技世界，大部分人卻依然可望而不可及。人權還在受到侵犯。大量的人才在流失。今年的國際婦女節使我們所有人有機會來應對這些挑戰。在經濟困難時期，這就是最好的投資。