Secretary-General’s Message on World Literacy Day

秘書長國際掃盲日致辭

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7.73億以上的年青人和成年人不會念這份致辭。他們是我們的同胞，但卻還沒有充分掌握識字技能。他們可能無法填寫求職申請書、辨認汽車時刻表或大聲朗讀故事給子女聽。其中三分之二是婦女，她們被剝奪了充分參與社會的這一基本要素。

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.

在我們這個立足于知識的時代，識字是實現一個更加公平、更具包容性和更可持續世界的基礎。 識字可以推動各項千年發展目標，可以使人們獲取信息，改善自身的健康和營養，可以拓寬謀生手段，應對環境變化和作出明智的選擇。

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.

當我們為學習和識字進行投資時，我們是在投資于人的尊嚴、發展與和平。這就是我啟動“教育第一全球倡議”，確保每名兒童都能上學的目的。全世界至少有2.5億小學學齡兒童不會讀寫或計算。其中半數男孩和女孩根本沒機會上學，或還沒有上到四年級就輟學了。另有2億青少年，包括上完中學的人沒有掌握基本的識字技能－因此，我們的倡議還側重于提高學習質量，以及培養全球公民。

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.

我敦促所有國家將教育和識字作為國家優先事項，與社會各界伙伴共同努力推動這些目標。通過促進識字，我們可以幫助數以百萬計的人書寫他們人生的機會篇章，并書寫我們共同的未來。

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