教科文组织总干事在国际扫盲日的致辞

    联合国教科文组织总干事伊琳娜·博科娃2011年9月8日在国际扫盲日的致辞

    
    今年，国际扫盲日特别关注扫盲与和平之间的关系。持久的和平建立在尊重人权和社会公正的基础之上。
    扫盲，一切教育和终身学习的基础，正是上述人权之一。
    扫盲之所以是和平的前提，因其能够带来多元效益，涵盖人类、文化、社会、政治、经济等多个层面。
    在如今的知识型社会中，缺乏文化知识越来越等同于被社会排斥或边缘化。
    根据最新的数据（2009年），7.93亿人缺乏基本的文化技能，其中大多数是妇女和儿童。另有6700万小学学龄儿童辍学，7200万初中生无法就学，他们都有可能成为新一代文盲。
    这些令人无法接受的现实情况阻碍了人们为减少贫困，促进人类发展而浮出的努力。
    这是对人权和基本自由的侵犯，是对和平和安全的威胁。
    扫盲是发展的加速器，是维持和平的力量。
    首先，扫盲能够赋予个人能力，获取技能和信心，获得重要知识，做出对家庭和社区有直接影响的有效选择。
    其次，扫盲是个体有效参与民主进程、在社区组织中拥有话语权、获得政治知识进而帮助提高公共政策质量的条件。
    第三，扫盲计划通过促进人与人交流思想，表达、保护和发展自身文化特征和多元性，以此增强相互理解。
    任何国家如果希望建立持久和平，都必须找到在其国民间建立互信的方法，通过建立全纳性的教育体系来促进相互理解、尊重、宽容和对话。
    必须将扫盲纳入构建和平的工作之中，以便埋下和平的种子，促进和平对话和和解，赋予青年和成人获得适宜工作机会的技能。
    2011年国际扫盲奖将颁发给那些凸显出扫盲对于促进人权、性别平等、消除冲突和文化多样性具有核心作用的开创性计划。所有的入选项目都表明，即使在最困难的情况下，优质扫盲计划正在为青年和成人的生活带来持久的改变。
    对扫盲计划进行投入是合理且重要的发展选择。扫盲是促进可持续发展及和平的战略核心，对于实现全民教育和千年发展目标也具有重要意义。
    世界各国急需加强对扫盲所作的政治承诺，提供充足的资源来扩大有效的计划。今天，我督促各国政府、国际组织、民间团体和私营部门将扫盲作为优先政策，确保每一位个体的潜能得到发展，积极参与建设更为可持续、公平和和平的社会。

    伊琳娜·博科娃

Message from Irina Bokova,
Director-General of UNESCO,
on the occasion of International Literacy Day,
8 September 2011

    This year, International Literacy Day places a special focus on the essential relationship between literacy and peace. Lasting peace is founded on respect for human rights and social justice.
    Literacy, the foundation of all education and lifelong learning, is one of these rights.
    Literacy is a prerequisite for peace because it carries multiple benefits, cutting across the human, cultural, social, political and economic spheres.
    In today’s knowledge-driven societies, lack of literacy is more than ever synonymous with exclusion and marginalization.
    According to the most recent figures (2009), 793 million adults lack basic literacy skills, the majority are girls and women. A further 67 million children of primary school age are not in primary school and 72 million adolescents of lower secondary school age are also missing out their right to an education, running the risk of creating a new generation of illiterates.
    This unacceptable situation is holding back all efforts to reduce poverty and advance human development.
    It is an infringement of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and a threat to peace and security.
Literacy is a development accelerator and a force for peace.
    First, literacy empowers individuals, equipping them with the skills and confidence to seek out vital information and to make informed choices that have a direct impact on their families and communities.
    Second, literacy is a condition for individuals to effectively participate in democratic processes, to claim a voice in community organizations, gain political knowledge and thereby contribute to shaping the quality of public policies.
    Third, literacy programmes strengthen mutual understanding by enabling people to share ideas and to express, preserve and develop their cultural identity and diversity.
    No country can hope to establish lasting conditions for peace unless it finds ways of building mutual trust between its citizens through inclusive education systems that promote mutual understanding, respect, tolerance and dialogue.
    It is crucial to integrate literacy in peace-building processes in order to plant the seeds of peace, foster dialogue and reconciliation, and give youth and adults the skills they need to seek decent employment.
    The 2011 International Literacy Prizes reward ground-breaking programmes that show the central role of literacy in promoting human rights, gender equality, conflict resolution and cultural diversity. All programmes highlight that even in the most difficult contexts, good quality literacy programmes are working and bringing lasting change into the lives of youth and adults.
    Investing in literacy programmes is a sensible and essential development choice. Literacy is a key component of strategies to promote sustainable development and peace. It is central to achieving Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals.
    The world urgently needs increased political commitment to literacy backed by adequate resources to scale up effective programmes. Today I urge governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to make literacy a policy priority, so that every individual can develop their potential, and actively participate in shaping more sustainable, just and peaceful societies.

    Irina Bokova