Statement by Secretary Kerry on International Day of the Girl

国务卿克里就国际女童日发表的声明

October 11, 2013

2013年10月11日

When many of the world’s 850 million girls go to sleep tonight, they will dream about futures that sadly—tragically—are nearly impossible for them to achieve.

今晚，当全世界8.5亿女童中的许多人就寝时，她们梦想的未来令人忧虑—悲伤，几乎不可能实现。

In too many countries, the promise of the next generation of girls is at risk. In too many communities, the contributions of girls are not valued, their well-being is not protected, and their aspirations are not taken seriously.

在许多国家，下一代女童的希望面临威胁。在许多国家，女童的贡献不受到重视，她们的安康得不到保障，她们的志向被视为无足轻重。

As the father of two daughters, I know that is unacceptable. Supporting the rights of girls is the moral and just thing to do. And as someone who sits today in the same chair where extraordinary women like Hillary Rodham Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, and Madeleine Albright sat before me, I know that it’s also the smart thing to do. Investing in girls is a critical part of our duty to promote prosperity, security, and peace around the world. Empowered girls grow up to be empowered women. They grow up to be empowered mothers, leaders, and innovators. They grow up to move their communities forward and make the world a better place.

作为两个女儿的父亲，我深知这种情况不可接受。支持女童的权利是合乎道德的正义之举。今天我担任的这个职务曾由一些卓越非凡的女性出任，例如我的前任希拉里?罗德姆?克林顿、康多莉扎?赖斯和马德琳?奥尔布赖特，我知道这也是明智之举。培养女童是我们的职责之一， 对于促进全世界的繁荣、安全与和平至关重要。获得自主权的女童长大后会成为有自主权的妇女。她们成长为有自主权的母亲、领袖和创新者。她们长大后将推动自己的社区前进，使全世界成为更美好的地方。

I am proud of the accomplishments of my own daughters and my wife. I want all girls to have the same opportunities they had to get a good education, pursue their passions in a safe environment, and achieve their full potential.

我为我女儿和我妻子取得的成就感到骄傲。我希望所有的女童都有与她们同样的机会获得良好的教育，在安全的环境下追求自己热爱的事业，发挥他们的全部潜能。

Thanks to a number of global partnerships and programs led by the State Department, like TechGirls and NeXXt Scholars—and great USAID programs like Safe Schools—we have made important progress. Today, more and more girls are enrolling in school in Afghanistan, and fewer and fewer girls are victims of female genital mutilation in Africa. But our work is far from over.

由于国务院主持了一系列全球伙伴关系和项目，例如“技术女童”、“下一代学者”和美国国际开发署的“安全学校”等优秀项目，我们已经取得了重大进步。今天，阿富汗有越来越多的女童注册入学，作为切割女性生殖器受害者的非洲女童越来越少，但我们的工作远没有完成。

Every year, the International Day of the Girl is a chance for us to reaffirm our commitment to girls’ rights, to celebrate their value to society, and to address the unique challenges they still face. It is a call to action for everyone to build on the progress we have made on global women’s rights. If we heed that call, if we keep faith with the enormous potential and promise of young women, the dreams of our daughters will one day be just as viable as the dreams of our sons.

每年的“国际女童日”为我们提供机会重申我们对女童权利的承诺，赞赏她们对社会的价值，克服她们仍然面临的独特挑战。它召唤每一个人采取行动，再接再厉推进我们为争取全球妇女权利取得的进展。我们如果响应这个召唤，如果我们坚信年轻妇女的巨大潜力和希望，女儿们的梦想总有一天会与儿子们的梦想一样，同样受到重视，同样可以实现。

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