博科娃總幹事年國際女童日致辭
Message from Ms. Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child
教科文組織總幹事伊琳娜·博科娃女士在國際女童日的致辭
11 October 2016
2016年10月11日
The theme of this International Day of the Girl Child is dedicated to “Child marriage”.
今年國際女童日的主題是“童婚”問題。
Today in the world, too limited progress has been made in the elimination of early marriage. Every year 15 million girls are married before they reach 18 years old. 1 in 9 girls in the developing world are married by the age of 15. Although in many countries we can assist to a gradual increase in the median age of first marriage, this has been mainly restricted to children from families with higher revenues.
在當今世界上，消除早婚方面所取得的進展極其有限。每年有1500萬少女未滿 18 週歲就結婚。在發展中國家，有九分之一的少女未滿 15週歲就出嫁。儘管在許多國家我們可以看到（？）初婚的平均年齡在逐漸提高，但這主要限於那些較高收入家庭的孩子。
Early marriage is rarely a choice. It is the result of on an intergenerational transmission cycle of poverty, exclusion, discrimination and violence. When a girl is forced to an early marriage, it is not only her future that is being threatened, but the well-being of entire communities. Girls who marry before 18 years old, often leave formal education, depriving societies from precious potential and creativity. They are also more prone to domestic violence as well as early pregnancies and maternal death, throwing a shadow across the world, weakening us all.
早婚很少是一個選擇，它是貧困、排斥、歧視和暴力的惡性循環代代相傳所導致的結果。當一個女孩被迫早婚時，受到威脅的不僅是她個人的未來，也包括全社會的福祉。未滿18週歲就結婚的女孩，通常就此告別了正規教育，使得她們身上所蘊含的寶貴潛力和創造力不能爲社會所用。同時，她們也更易於遭遇家暴、早孕甚至難產死亡，這讓整個世界都蒙上陰影，讓我們每個人都爲之黯然神傷。
Every extra year of schooling for a girl takes them away from poverty, provides them with social networks and raises their expectations about their options in life. And it is not enough to enroll girls – we must help them to stay in the course, all the way through secondary school. This is the best way to build stronger communities, inclusive and resilient societies. If we act together, this day can mark the beginning of the end of harmful practices like child marriage. It is a development issue, and it is a human rights imperative.
對於女孩來說，在學校多接受一年教育，就會有助於她們擺脫貧困，增加社會交往，提升對生活前景的期望。但是，僅僅把女童招進學校是不夠的，我們必須幫助她們留在課堂上，讓她們自始至終完成中等教育。這是建設更強大的社區、包容且堅韌的社會的最佳途徑。如果我們一起行動起來，今天這個日子，就能成爲終結童婚這類陋習的標誌性開端。這個問題不僅事關發展，也是人權領域的當務之急。
