Every year, on September 8th, we raise the flag for literacy as a human right, as a force for dignity, and as a foundation for cohesive societies and sustainable development.
每年的九月八日，我们强调识字是一项人权，是争取尊严的力量，是实现具有凝聚力的社会和可持续发展的基础。
This message is especially vital this year, when States will adopt a new agenda for education and development to guide the next 15 years. Promoting literacy must stand at the heart of this new agenda. By empowering individual women and men, literacy helps to advance sustainable development across the board – from better healthcare and food security to eradicating poverty and promoting decent work.
今年正值各国将要通过指导未来15年的教育和发展的新议程，这一理念尤为重要。推动扫盲的工作必须被置于新议程的核心。通过增强每一位男性和妇女的权能，扫盲有助于从改善卫生保健和粮食安全到消除贫困和促进体面工作等各个方面全方位地促进可持续发展。
There has been progress across the world since 2000, but steep challenges remain. Today, 757 million adults still lack basic literacy skills – two thirds are women. The number of out-of-school children and adolescents is on the rise, standing at 124 million worldwide – while some 250 million children of primary school age are failing to master basic literacy skills even in schooling.
2000年以来，世界各地都取得进展，但挑战依然严峻。今天，有7.57亿成人仍缺乏基本的识字技能——其中妇女占三分之二。失学少年儿童的数量不断上升，全球总数达1.24亿人。约有2.5亿小学学龄儿童，即便在校学习，也没有掌握基本的识字技能。
We cannot allow this to continue. Literacy is essential to reach the proposed sustainable development goal to promote “inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all.”
我们不能容许这种情况继续下去。要实现拟议的可持续发展目标，促进“包容和公平的全民优质教育和终身学习”，扫盲是关键。
This is UNESCO's message on International Literacy Day. To allow all women and men to participate fully in their societies, we need greater investment and more effective policies to embed action for literacy within wider development policies, supported by innovative mechanisms that generate positive synergies across all policy areas that are vital to building more just and cohesive societies. This is essential to all efforts to build a better future for all, on the basis of human rights and dignity.
这就是教科文组织在国际扫盲日发出的讯息。为了让所有人充分参与社会生活，我们需要更多的投资和更加切实有效的政策，把扫盲工作纳入更广泛的发展政策当中，利用创新机制，在建设更加公正和富有凝聚力的社会的所有关键政策领域形成积极的合力。这对于我们在人权和尊严的基础上为所有人建设更美好的未来至关重要。