Message from Ms. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of International Day of Education

教科文组织总干事奥德蕾·阿祖莱国际教育日致辞

24 January 2019

2019年1月24日

Today marks the first International Day of Education, as proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly last December. This significant decision recognizes the capital role of education in “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

今天是首个国际教育日。联合国大会于去年12月宣布设立该国际日。这一重大决定承认了教育在“变革我们的世界：2030年可持续发展议程”中的关键作用。

Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind. We will not succeed in mitigating climate change, adapting to the technological revolution, let alone achieve gender equality, without ambitious political commitment to universal education.

没有包容和公平的优质教育以及全民终身学习机会，各国将无法破除让数百万儿童、青年和成人掉队的贫困怪圈。没有对普及教育的庄严政治承诺，我们将无法减缓气候变化，无法适应技术革命，更遑论实现性别平等。

This day is the occasion to reaffirm fundamental principles. Firstly, education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility. Secondly, education is the most powerful force in our hands to ensure significant improvements in health, to stimulate economic growth, to unlock the potential and innovation we need to build more resilient and sustainable societies. Lastly, we urgently need to call for collective action for education at global level.

我们利用今天这一契机，重申以下各项基本原则：第一，教育是人权，是公益，也是公共责任；第二，教育是我们手中最有力的手段，它能够确保显著改善卫生，刺激经济增长，激发建设更具复原力和可持续社会所需的潜力和创新；最后，我们迫切需要呼吁在全球层面采取促进教育的集体行动。

Headline figures point to the challenges: 262 million children and youth do not attend school; 617 million children and adolescents cannot read and do basic math; less than 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school while some 4 million children and youth refugees are out of school, their lives disrupted by conflict and loss.

醒目的数字为我们指明了挑战：2.62亿儿童和青年失学，6.17亿儿童和青少年无法阅读或进行基础数学运算；在撒哈拉以南非洲，完成初中学业的女童不到40%，而失学的儿童和青年难民大约有400万——冲突和损失已严重扰乱了他们的生活。

Because the world is not on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4, we need a surge in global cooperation and collective action. Our challenge is to make education work for everyone, by promoting inclusion and equity at every level, to leave no one behind.

世界尚未踏上实现可持续发展目标4的正轨，因此我们需要大力加强国际合作和集体行动。通过在各级教育中促进包容和公平，使教育惠及每一个人，不让任何一个人掉队，这是我们面临的挑战。

This calls for special attention to girls, to migrants, displaced persons and refugees; to support teachers and make education and training more gender responsive. It urgently requires scaled up domestic resources and international aid, because the cost of not investing will dig divides, inequalities and exclusion across societies.

这就要求我们特别关注女童、移民、流离失所者和难民；支持教师并使教育和培训更加注重性别平等问题。迫切需要大幅增加国内投入和国际援助，若不进行这方面的投资，社会鸿沟、不平等和排斥现象将不断加深。

Invited to facilitate the observance of International Education Day, UNESCO calls on governments and all partners to make education a leading priority.

教科文组织受邀为国际教育日庆祝活动提供便利，在此呼吁各国政府和所有合作伙伴将教育作为头等优先事项。

We all have a stake in education, let’s act together to fulfil its promise.

教育事关我们所有人。让我们共同努力，充分发挥教育的潜能。