International Women’s Day was first honoured one hundred years ago in a handful of European countries. Since then, the celebration has become global, and much has been achieved. The 2011 International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate achievements and mobilize against the challenges that remain.

一百年前在欧洲的一小部分国家首次庆祝了“国际妇女节”，此后，它便成为全球性的庆祝活动，而且取得了很大的成果。2011年的国际妇女节 使我们有机会颂扬成就并动员力量应对依然存在的挑战。

There is no room for complacency. Less than 40 percent of countries provide girls and boys with equal access to education. Had we reached gender parity in primary education in 2008, there would have been an additional 3.6 million girls in school. Disparities have increased at the secondary level in Africa over the last decade. Only 29 percent of researchers in the world today are women. Two-thirds of the world’s 796 million illiterate adults are women.

我们并没有什么可自满的。只有不到百分之四十国家的女孩和男孩有着平等接受教育的权利。如果世界各国在 2008年能够实现初等教育性别平衡的话，就能再有360万女孩进入小学。在过去的十年里，非洲中等教育中的性别失衡问题变得更为严重。当今世界科研人员中妇女的比例仅为29%。全世界7.96亿成人文盲中三分之二是妇女。

The impact is serious. Inequality costs lives in terms of child mortality. It blights lives in terms of poverty and marginalization. And it slights lives in terms of opportunities for growth and development.

这种影响的后果是严重的。性别不平等导致儿童死亡率的上升，意味着生命的丧失。从贫困和边缘化的角度来看，它使生活变得更加恶劣。因为影响到成长和发展的机会，它也使生命变得更加脆弱。

Gender equality is a red thread weaving through all UNESCO activities to promote international cooperation in education, the sciences, culture, communication and information. We seek to promote basic human rights in order to transform our societies and lay the foundations for equitable and sustainable human development.

性别平等是贯穿教科文组织所有促进教育、科学、文化、传播与信息领域国际合作活动的一条主线。我们努力促进基本人权和社会变革，为公平和可持续的人类发展奠定基础。

This year’s International Women’s Day is inspired by the theme of ‘Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women.’ This goes to the heart of UNESCO’s mission. We work to strengthen the bridges between education, training, science and technology and the labour market in order to promote equal opportunity to decent employment. This starts early, with quality education for all girls and young women from the primary to the tertiary level. It continues with vocational training and education for women who have not acquired basic skills. It proceeds with creating positive role models and career tracks – especially in such areas as science and technology.

今年国际妇女节弘扬的主题是“平等接受教育、培训和利用科技的权利：妇女通往体面工作之路”。这正是教科文组织的核心使命。我们努力加强教育、培训、科技与劳动市场之间的衔接，从而促进平等的体面就业机会。为此需要从更早期入手，为所有女孩和女青年提供从小学到大学阶段有质量的教育。要继续为没有掌握基本技能的妇女提供职业培训与教育，并进而树立积极的表率模式和职业途径--尤其是在科技等领域。

These goals guide UNESCO’s work in leading the Education for All initiative. They inspire our partnership with L’Oreal to promote women in scientific research. They explain our work in Pakistan to support income generation for women after the floods of 2010 and to increase literacy among women in Afghanistan.

这些目标引导着教科文组织牵头开展全民教育活动，也激励我们与欧莱雅开展合作，促进妇女开展科学研究。正是为了这些目标，我们在2010年洪灾后与巴基斯坦一起支持为妇女开展创收活动，以及努力让更多的阿富汗妇女扫盲。

UNESCO is geared up to do much more – to work with official and private sector partners to provide system-wide policy support for governments, to enhance nonformal education and to open learning opportunities for adult women. UNESCO has real leadership in these areas, and we will make the most of this.

教科文组织已经准备就绪，将为此做更多的工作--与官方和私营部门合作伙伴一起，向各国政府提供全系统的政策支持，进一步为成年妇女提供非正规教育和开放式学习的机会。教科文组织在这些领域可以发挥切实的领导作用，我们将充分利用这一机会。

Without basic skills, decent work has become a distant dream for too many women. The worlds of science and technology – so important for our lives today – remain beyond the reach of most. Human rights are being violated. Tremendous talents are being lost. This International Women’s’ Day is a chance for us all to address these challenges. In times of economic difficulty, there is no better investment.

对许多没有基本技能的妇女来说，要想得到体面的工作那是一个遥远的梦想。对我们今天的生活如此重要的科技世界，大部分人却依然可望而不可及。人权还在受到侵犯。大量的人才在流失。今年的国际妇女节使我们所有人有机会来应对这些挑战。在经济困难时期，这就是最好的投资。