The great philosopher Aristotle said if something doesn't exist, there's no word for it,
伟大的哲学家亚里士多德曾说过：如果一件事物不存在，它就没有名字，
and if there's no word for something, that something doesn't exist.
如果一件事物没有名字，它就不存在。
So when we talk about elections, we in established democracies, we know what we're talking about.
所以当我们讨论到选举的时候，在已经建立民主政治的地方，我们知道自己在谈论什么。
We've got the words. We have the vocabulary. We know what a polling station is. We know what a ballot paper is.
我们有这样的语言，关于它的词汇。我们知道什么是投票站，什么是选票。
But what about countries where democracy doesn't exist, countries where there are no words to describe the concepts that underpin a democratic society?
但是在民主尚未建立的国家会怎样呢？那些国家没有词汇用来形容民主这个概念，民主社会是不存在的。
I work in the field of electoral assistance, so that's to say we assist emerging democracies to organize what is often their first elections.
我从事选举援助工作，也可以说，我们就是去帮助那些初生的民主政权去组织，通常是他们的第一次选举。
When people ask me what I do, quite often I get this answer.
当人们问起我从事的工作，我经常得到这样的回复：
"Oh, so you're one of these people who goes around the world imposing Western democracy on countries that can't handle it."
“噢，所以你就是那类在世界各地，将西方民主政治硬塞给那些自己搞不定的国家的人啊。”
Well, the United Nations does not impose anything on anybody.
其实，联合国从不把任何东西强加于任何人身上。
It really doesn't, and also, what we do is firmly anchored in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 21,
不，它真的不会。而且，我们所做的，是牢牢绑定在1948年的世界人权宣言当中第二十一章中说的：
that says that everybody should have the right to choose who governs them.
每个人都有权选择自己的政府。
So that's the basis of the work. I specialize in public outreach. What does that mean? Another jargon.
这是我们工作的基本准则。我专精于公共宣传。那是什么意思呢？另一个术语。
It actually means designing information campaigns so that candidates and voters
它实际上是指设计信息化运动，这样候选人和选民，
who have never had the opportunity to participate or to vote understand where, when, how to register;
那些从来没有机会去参加选举或参加投票的人，就会明白何时何地和如何去注册；
where, when, how to vote; why, why it is important to take part.
何时何地和如何去投票；还有参与的重要意义。
So I'll probably devise a specific campaign to reach out to women to make sure that they can take part, that they can be part of the process.
所以我可能会设计一个专门针对女性的运动，去确保她们会参与其中，确保她们也成为过程中的一部分。
Young people as well. All sorts of people. Handicapped people. We try to reach everybody.
年轻人也是一样。所有人都是。残疾人也是。我们试图动员每个人。
And it's not always easy, because very often in this work,
而这从来就不简单，因为经常出现的问题，
I've noticed now over the years that I've been doing it that words are lacking, and so what do you do?
就是我这么多年来从事这项工作，发现常常找不到相应的词汇可用，那么我们应该怎么做？
Afghanistan. It's a country with high levels of illiteracy,
阿富汗。这是一个高文盲率的国家，
and the thing about that was, it was in 2005, and we organized two elections on the same day.
与此相关的，是我们在2005年同一天举办了两场选举。
The reason was because the logistics are so incredibly difficult, it seemed to be more efficient to do that.
这么做是因为物流的极度紧张，而这样做比较高效。
It was, but on the other hand, explaining two elections instead of one was even more complicated.
它确实比较高效，但是在另一方面，解释两场选举而非一场，就使工作变得更加复杂。
So we used a lot of images, and when it came to the actual ballot, we had problems,
所以我们使用了大量的图片，而当真正的投票到来时，就出现了问题，
because so many people wanted to take part, we had 300 candidates for 52 seats in the Wolesi Jirga, which is the parliamentary elections.
因为太多的人想要参与其中，我们有300个候选人，争夺52个众议院席位，是在人民院的选举中。
And for the Provincial Council, we had even more candidates. We had 330 for 54 seats.
而省议会选举的候选人就更多。我们有330人抢54个位置。
So talking about ballot design, this is what the ballot looked like. It's the size of a newspaper.
所以当谈论起候选名单设计，这就是候选名单的样子。跟报纸差不多大。
This was the Wolesi Jirga ballot -- Yeah, and -- this was the Provincial Council ballot. Even more.
这是众议院候选名单--对，是的--这是省议会候选名单。甚至更多。
So you see, we did use a lot of symbols and things like that.
所以你们能看到，我们确实用了很多这样的符号。
And we had other problems in Southern Sudan. Southern Sudan was a very different story.
我们在南苏丹则遇到了另外的问题。南苏丹有着完全不同的历史背景。
We had so many people who had never, of course, voted, but we had extremely, extremely high levels of illiteracy, very, very poor infrastructure.
我们有这么多的人，很明显从未参与过选举，但是那儿的文盲率却是极度的、前所未有的高，有着破旧的、极度糟糕的基础设施。
For example -- I mean, it's a country the size of Texas, more or less.
举个例子--它是一个和德克萨斯州差不多大的国家。
We had seven kilometers of paved roads, seven kilometers in the whole country, and that includes the tarmac where we landed the planes in Juba Airport.
那儿只有7公里铺平的道路，全国只有7公里，这其中还包括了停机坪，就是我们飞机起降的跑道，在朱巴机场。
So transporting electoral materials, etc., is exceedingly difficult.
所以运送选举材料之类的工作，就变得超乎寻常的困难。
People had no idea about what a box looked like.
人们甚至不知道投票箱长什么样。
It was very complicated, so using verbal communication was obviously the way to go, but there were 132 languages. So that was extremely challenging.
一切都太困难了，因此，想要用语言交流显然还有漫长的道路要走。但是在那里一共有132种语言。所以这是极具挑战性的。
Then I arrived in Tunisia in 2011. It was the Arab Spring.
之后，在2011年我去了突尼斯。那会正赶上阿拉伯之春运动。
A huge amount of hope was generated by that enormous movement that was going on in the region.
在那片地区的大型运动给人们带来了巨大的希望。
There was Libya, there was Egypt, there was Yemen. It was an enormous, enormous historical moment.
在利比亚，埃及，还有也门。这一个巨大的，前所未有的历史性运动。
And I was sitting with the election commission, and we were talking about various aspects of the election,
我就和选举委员们坐在一起，我们讨论了选举的方方面面，
and I was hearing them using words that I hadn't actually heard before,
我听到他们用那些我从未听过的词汇，
and I'd worked with Iraqis, I'd worked with Jordanians, Egyptians, and suddenly they were using these words, and I just thought, "This is strange."
我曾与伊拉克人，约旦人，埃及人一起工作，然后突然之间他们就开始使用这些词汇，我就想：“这真是奇怪”。
And what really gave rise to it was this word "observer."
他们真正想表达的是“观察员”。

We were discussing election observers, and the election commissioner was talking about "mulahiz" in Arabic.
我们正在讨论选举的观察员，选举委员们用阿拉伯语讨论着“mulahiz”。
This means "to notice" in a passive sort of sense, as in, "I noticed he was wearing a light blue shirt."
它的意思是“注意”，以一种被动的语气。例如：“我注意到了，他穿着一件淡蓝色的衬衫。”
Did I go and check whether the shirt was light blue or not? That is the role of an election observer.
我是否去检查了他的衬衫真的是淡蓝色？这就是选举观察员的角色。
It's very active, it's governed by all kinds of treaties, and it has got that control function in it.
这角色非常活跃，它被各种条约所支配，也拥有了内部控制能力。
And then I got wind of the fact that in Egypt, they were using this term "mutabi’," which means "to follow."
然后我听闻了在埃及的一些事实，他们使用“mutabi”这个词，意思是“去跟进”。
So we were now having followers of an election. So that's not quite right either,
所以我们现在又有了选举的跟进员。但这也不太对，
because there is a term that's already accepted and in use, which was the word "muraqib" which means "a controller."
因为还有另一个已经被接受并在使用的词，就是“muraqib”意思是“监控员”。
It's got that notion of control. So I thought, three words for one concept. This is not good.
类似控制的概念。所以我就想，三个单词一个概念。这可不好。
And with our colleagues, we thought perhaps it's our role to actually help make sure
和我们的同事一起时，我们认为我们的角色。
that the words are understood and actually create a work of reference that could be used across the Arab region.
或许是在实质上帮助他们理解这些单词，规范一个基本用词框架，应用于全阿拉伯语地区。
And that's what we did. So together with these colleagues,
所以我们就这么做了。和这些同行在一起，
we launched the "Arabic Lexicon of Electoral Terminology," and we worked in eight different countries.
我们发起了一个“阿拉伯语选举标准术语”项目，并在八个不同的国家进行使用。
It meant actually defining 481 terms which formed the basis of everything you need to know if you're going to organize a democratic election.
实质上是新定义了481个词语，它们组成了任何民主选举的基本词汇库。
And we defined these terms, and we worked with the Arab colleagues and came to an agreement about what would be the appropriate word to use in Arabic.
我们定义了这些词汇，也和阿拉伯的同事们一起工作，进而达成了适用于阿拉伯的词汇的共识。
Because the Arabic language is very rich, and that's part of the problem.
阿拉伯语词汇很丰富，但这样也正是一部分问题所在。
But there are 22 countries that speak Arabic, and they use modern standard Arabic,
因为有22个国家和地区的人民使用阿拉伯语，虽然他们使用的都是标准现代阿拉伯语，
which is the Arabic that is used across the whole region in newspapers and broadcasts,
在整个中东地区的报纸和广播节目中都会使用，
but of course, then from one country to the next in day to day language and use it varies -- dialect, colloquialisms, etc.
但是当然，随着不同国家的使用及时间的演化，阿拉伯语就开始分化了--方言，俗语等等。
So that was another added layer of complication.
所以那又构成了另一道障碍。
So in one sense you had the problem that language wasn't fully ripe, if you like, neologisms were coming up, new expressions.
在这个情况下，语言还不成熟，如果你愿意这么讲。新词，新的表达，不断的被发明出来。
And so we defined all these terms, and then we had eight correspondents in the region.
所以我们定义了这些词汇，我们在这些地区有了八个通讯员。
We submitted the draft to them, they responded back to us.
我们把词汇表草稿交给他们，他们就回复我们：
"Yes, we understand the definition. We agree with it, but this is what we say in our country."
“是的，我们明白这些定义。我们投赞同票，但是这是我们在我们国家的说法。”
Because we were not going to harmonize or force harmonization. We were trying to facilitate understanding among people.
因为我们不打算去协调，也不准备强制协调。我们就只能尝试去促进人与人之间的相互理解。
So in yellow, you see the different expressions in use in the various countries.
所以在黄色的部分，你们能看出在不同的国家有不同的表达方式。
So this, I'm happy to say, it took three years to produce this because we also finalized the draft and took it actually into the field,
因此，我很高兴地告诉你们，我们花了三年时间去完成这项任务，完成最终稿，并使他们真正应用到这个领域，
sat with the election commissions in all these different countries, debated and defined and refined the draft,
与各国的选举委员会的成员坐在一起，进行争论，定义和精炼这些草稿，
and finally published it in November 2014 in Cairo. And it's gone a long way. We published 10,000 copies.
并最终于2014年11月在开罗发表。一路走来，我们成绩斐然，总共发行了一万份副本。
To date, there's about 3,000 downloads off the internet in PDF form.
直至今日，已经有3000多份PDF下载件了。
I heard just recently from a colleague that they've taken it up in Somalia.
我最近刚从一个同事那儿听说，他们要把这份文件带去索马里。
They're going to produce a version of this in Somalia, because there's nothing in Somalia at all.
他们将做一份索马里的版本，因为索马里还什么都没有。
So that's very good to know. And this newly formed Arab Organization for Electoral Management Bodies,
所以，这听起来不错。这份新形成的阿拉伯选举管理体制，
which is trying to professionalize how elections are run in the region, they're using it as well.
就是用于规范在该地区的选举流程的这份文件，他们也正在使用了。
And the Arab League have now built up a pan-Arab observation unit, and they're using it. So that's all really good.
阿拉伯联盟现在也建立了一个通用阿拉伯观察中心，而且他们正在使用它。这听起来都很好。
However, this work of reference is quite high-pitched.
但是，这个框架比较高级。
It's complex, and a lot of the terms are quite technical, so the average person probably doesn't need to know at least a third of it.
它很复杂，包含很多专业词汇，所以有至少三分之一的词汇普通人并不需要知道。
But the people of the Middle East have been deprived of any form of what we know as civic education.
但是在中东地区的人们，他们被剥夺了我们所理解的文明教育。
It's part of our curriculum at school. It doesn't really exist in that part of the world,
那些是我们日常课程中的一部分。这在那个世界中是不存在的，
and I feel it's really the right of everybody to know how these things work.
但我认为每个人都有权利知道选举的工作流程。
And it's a good thing to think about producing a work of reference for the average person,
而且让普通人理解这样一种选举框架，这种想法是一件好事，
and bearing in mind that now we have a basis to work with, but also we have technology,
要牢记我们现在已经有这样一种基础文件了，我们还有科技，
so we can reach out using telephone apps, video, animation.
我们可以使用电话软件，视频，动画软件。
There's all sorts of tools that can be used now to communicate these ideas to people for the first time in their own language.
我们现在有各种可用的工具，能够第一次把这些观点，用人们自己的语言传递给他们。
We hear a lot of misery about the Middle East. We hear the chaos of war. We hear terrorism.
我们听说了中东地区人们的很多痛苦。我们听说了战乱。我们听说了恐怖主义。
We hear about sectarianism and all this horrible negative news that comes to us all the time.
我们听说了宗教分裂和各种可怕的负面消息，这些消息不断向我们涌来。
What we're not hearing is what are the people, the everyday people, thinking? What are they aspiring to?
我们不知道当地的人们，普通人是怎么想的，他们又向往什么呢？
Let's give them the means, let's give them the words.
让我们给予他们工具吧，给予他们这些词汇。
The silent majority is silent because they don't have the words. The silent majority needs to know.
大众沉默的原因，是他们不懂得如何表达。沉默的大众需要知道这些表达方式。
It is time to provide people with the knowledge tools that they can inform themselves with.
现在是给人们知识工具的时候了，这样他们就能自学成才。
The silent majority does not need to be silent.
沉默的大众不必保持沉默。
Let's help them have a voice. Thank you very much.
让我们帮助他们发出自己的声音。非常感谢。