Message from Ms. Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child

教科文組織總干事伊琳娜·博科娃女士在國際女童日的致辭

11 October 2016

2016年10月11日

The theme of this International Day of the Girl Child is dedicated to “Child marriage”.

今年國際女童日的主題是“童婚”問題。

Today in the world, too limited progress has been made in the elimination of early marriage. Every year 15 million girls are married before they reach 18 years old. 1 in 9 girls in the developing world are married by the age of 15. Although in many countries we can assist to a gradual increase in the median age of first marriage, this has been mainly restricted to children from families with higher revenues.

在當(dāng)今世界上,消除早婚方面所取得的進(jìn)展極其有限。每年有1500萬少女未滿 18 周歲就結(jié)婚。在發(fā)展中國家,有九分之一的少女未滿 15周歲就出嫁。盡管在許多國家我們可以看到(?)初婚的平均年齡在逐漸提高,但這主要限于那些較高收入家庭的孩子。

Early marriage is rarely a choice. It is the result of on an intergenerational transmission cycle of poverty, exclusion, discrimination and violence. When a girl is forced to an early marriage, it is not only her future that is being threatened, but the well-being of entire communities. Girls who marry before 18 years old, often leave formal education, depriving societies from precious potential and creativity. They are also more prone to domestic violence as well as early pregnancies and maternal death, throwing a shadow across the world, weakening us all.

早婚很少是一個(gè)選擇,它是貧困、排斥、歧視和暴力的惡性循環(huán)代代相傳所導(dǎo)致的結(jié)果。當(dāng)一個(gè)女孩被迫早婚時(shí),受到威脅的不僅是她個(gè)人的未來,也包括全社會(huì)的福祉。未滿18周歲就結(jié)婚的女孩,通常就此告別了正規(guī)教育,使得她們身上所蘊(yùn)含的寶貴潛力和創(chuàng)造力不能為社會(huì)所用。同時(shí),她們也更易于遭遇家暴、早孕甚至難產(chǎn)死亡,這讓整個(gè)世界都蒙上陰影,讓我們每個(gè)人都為之黯然神傷。

Every extra year of schooling for a girl takes them away from poverty, provides them with social networks and raises their expectations about their options in life. And it is not enough to enroll girls – we must help them to stay in the course, all the way through secondary school. This is the best way to build stronger communities, inclusive and resilient societies. If we act together, this day can mark the beginning of the end of harmful practices like child marriage. It is a development issue, and it is a human rights imperative.

對于女孩來說,在學(xué)校多接受一年教育,就會(huì)有助于她們擺脫貧困,增加社會(huì)交往,提升對生活前景的期望。但是,僅僅把女童招進(jìn)學(xué)校是不夠的,我們必須幫助她們留在課堂上,讓她們自始至終完成中等教育。這是建設(shè)更強(qiáng)大的社區(qū)、包容且堅(jiān)韌的社會(huì)的最佳途徑。如果我們一起行動(dòng)起來,今天這個(gè)日子,就能成為終結(jié)童婚這類陋習(xí)的標(biāo)志性開端。這個(gè)問題不僅事關(guān)發(fā)展,也是人權(quán)領(lǐng)域的當(dāng)務(wù)之急。