As declared by the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, "information and freedom are indivisible." He said, "the information revolution is unthinkable without democracy, and true democracy is unimaginable without freedom of information."

诚如联合国前秘书长科菲·安南所言，“信息与自由不可分割。若无民主，信息革命实难想象，而若无信息自由，真正的民主无从谈起。”

Indeed, information plays an essential role in democratic societies. It helps debunk lies and counter disinformation; it undermines hate speech and encourages intercultural understanding. It helps combat extremism, promote informed decision-making and enhance transparency and accountability.

的确，信息在民主社会中发挥着至关重要的作用。信息可帮助揭穿谎言、对抗虚假信息；信息消弭仇恨言论、增进文化间了解。信息可帮助打击极端主义、促进知情决策、强化透明和问责。

However, for information to play such an instrumental role, all people must have equal access to it – and countries must adopt constitutional, statutory and political guarantees to make this possible. According to our current figures, just over two-thirds of United Nations Member States have done so.

然而，要使信息发挥如此重要的作用，所有人都必须享有获得信息的平等机会，而且各国必须从宪法、法律和政治上对此予以保障。从我们目前掌握的数据来看，仅略超三分之二的联合国会员国做到了这一点。

For this reason, UNESCO works to protect and promote access to information as a fundamental human right and an essential step towards attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. As part of these efforts, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 28 September as the International Day for Universal Access to Information – recognizing its role in development, democracy and equality.

为此，教科文组织致力于保护和促进信息获取，将其作为一项基本人权和实现可持续发展目标的一个重要步骤。作为这些努力的一部分，联合国大会宣布9月28日为“普遍获取信息国际日”，承认信息获取在发展、民主和平等方面的作用。

This International Day focuses on the challenges and opportunities of accessing information, including the role played by the Internet in this process. Digital technologies shape the way we communicate and access information globally – yet in Africa, for example, only 40 per cent of people use the Internet, compared to 66 per cent globally.

今年的国际日聚焦信息获取方面的挑战与机遇，包括互联网在这一过程中所发挥的作用。数字技术左右着我们在全球范围内进行交流和获取信息的方式——然而，例如在非洲，只有40%的人使用互联网，而全球这一比例为66%。

We must therefore not only accelerate and enhance efforts to make the Internet accessible. We must also work to ensure that all individuals are able to seek, receive and relay information, and engage in democratic processes.

因此，我们不仅必须更快和更好地实现互联网的普及，我们还必须努力确保所有人都能够寻求、接收和传递信息，并参与民主进程。

This means offering content that is diverse and available in multiple languages. It also means fostering skills such as media and information literacy so individuals can critically and effectively engage with content – another significant challenge in this digital age.

这意味着要提供多样化和多语言的内容。这同时还意味着要培养媒体与信息素养等技能，使个人能够批判性地、有效地参与到内容中去——这是当今数字时代的另一重大挑战。

Today's societies need inclusive access to information to build just, peaceful, and sustainable futures. UNESCO therefore calls on countries around the world to embrace information as a global public good.

当今社会需要包容性的信息获取，以创建公正、和平和可持续的未来。因此，教科文组织呼吁世界各国将信息视为一项全球公益物。