Tolerance is a fundamental principle of life in society, stemming naturally from respect for human rights and human dignity. It is a principle that is more relevant now than ever and it is under serious threat. Cultural diversity is being targeted by extremist groups seeking to impose their sectarian vision on the world, and minorities are being persecuted, falling victim to attempts at “cultural cleansing”. Within societies, economic and social crises are sometimes used as a pretext for blaming and rejecting others. In tackling these challenges, we must reaffirm with determination the need for tolerance by recalling that every culture is worthy of respect and that no belief deserves the hatred or scorn of others.
宽容乃社会生活的基本原则，它无疑源自对权利和人的尊严的尊重。该原则比以往更具有现实意义，它正在受到严重威胁。文化多样性成为极端团体的矢的，它们千方百计地将其一己的世界观强加于人，少数群体受到迫害，成为“文化清洗”的受害者。在社会内部，经济或社会危机有时成为寻找替罪羊和排斥他者的借口。面对所有这些挑战，我们应坚定地重申宽容的必要性，须知每种文化都值得尊重，任何信仰都不能成为仇恨或蔑视他者的理由。
This message is central to all of UNESCO’s action, guided by the conviction that lasting peace must be constructed in the minds of men and women, by nurturing the principles of tolerance and mutual respect through education, the dialogue among cultures and intellectual cooperation. In a globalizing world, it is no longer enough to live side by side, in passive indifference – tolerance requires active vigilance, renewed each day, against xenophobia, discrimination and hatred. We learn through tolerance to reconcile the universal rights that bind us together with the diversity that gives us so much, and to see that we need others, in all their diversity, so that we can be fully ourselves.
该信息是教科文组织行动的核心所在，教科文组织的成立正是基于这一信念，即通过教育、文化对话和智力合作使宽容和相互尊重的原则深入人心，在人之思想中建设可持续和平。世界业已全球化，毗邻而居却老死不相往来已不可行：宽容是一种需要每日保持的积极警觉，来抵御排外、歧视和仇恨。普遍权利使我们走到一起，多样性使我们丰富多彩，宽容则教会把二者协调统一。宽容还告诉我们，我们经常需要多样化的他者才能充分地成为我们自己。
More than words, tolerance is behaviour that is also learnt in the classroom. It takes the form of openness to the diversity of cultures and beliefs and respect for freedom of expression and opinion, rooted in attachment to human rights. This is the spirit of the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013-2022), for which UNESCO is lead agency in the United Nations system. It is also the objective of the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence, awarded this year to two human rights activists – Mr Ibrahim Ag Idbaltanat (Mali) and M. Francisco Javier Estévez Valencia (Chile).
宽容不仅是写在纸上的文字，还是一种在学校里习得的行为。它体现在对文化和信仰多样性的开放态度，体现在对表达和观点自由的尊重态度，这些态度深深扎根于对人权的坚守。这是教科文组织在联合国系统内牵头的国际文化和睦十年（2013-2022）的精神，也是教科文组织马登吉特-辛格宣扬宽容和非暴力奖的目标，该奖今年授予了两位人权卫士——Ibrahim Ag Idbaltanat先生（马里）和Francisco Javier Estévez Valencia先生（智利）。
UNESCO is committed to promoting tolerance through its educational and cultural programmes, through the International Coalition of Cities against Racism and through the mobilization of young people and global citizenship education. On the occasion of this international day, I call on all of UNESCO’s Member States and partners to reassert the transformational power of tolerance as a force for dialogue and peace.
教科文组织致力于通过其教育和文化计划、通过教科文组织反种族主义城市联盟、通过动员青年和开展全球公民教育来宣传宽容。借此国际日之机，我呼吁教科文组织所有会员国和合作伙伴重申宽容具有变革的能力，是对话及和平的力量。