Message from Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

教科文组织总干事奥德蕾·阿祖莱国际消除贫困日致辞

17 October 2022

2022年10月17日

  International efforts to tackle poverty have achieved spectacular results in the space of one generation: the global poverty rate shrank from 42.6% in 1981 to 8.7% before the COVID-19 pandemic. Those statistics, however, conceal major disparities between and within countries.

  在一代人的时间内，国际减贫工作取得了令人瞩目的成果：贫困率从1981年的42.6%下降到COVID-19大流行之前的8.7%。然而，这些数据掩盖了国家之间和各国内部存在的巨大差异。

  Furthermore, the economic shocks caused by the COVID-19 crisis are in danger of undoing the progress made to date: the global extreme poverty rate rose in 2020, for the first time in over 20 years, plunging more than 100 million more people into poverty.

  此外，COVID-19危机带来的经济冲击可能会使已经取得的成果付诸东流。例如，2020年，全球范围内的极端贫困率在20多年来首次出现上升，致使又有近1亿人陷入贫困。

  The pandemic has also resulted in an increase in inequalities in the exposure to poverty, particularly with respect to gender: according to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there were 13 million fewer women in work in 2021 than in 2019, while the employment rate among male workers had returned to pre-pandemic levels. Moreover,the foreseeable effects on poverty of inflation, climate imbalance and conflicts in the world have cast a shadow over the global outlook.

  这场大流行还加剧了贫困问题上的不平等，特别是性别不平等：根据国际劳工组织的数据，2021年的女性就业人数比2019年减少1300万，而与此同时男性就业率已重返大流行前的水平。通货膨胀、气候失调和世界各地的冲突，因其对贫困的可预见影响而给全球的前景蒙上阴影。

  This situation, although alarming, is not irreversible; but it will call for increased mobilization and solidarity, particularly in the most advantaged countries.

  然而，这一严峻的形势并非不可避免，但这需要加强动员和团结，特别是最富裕国家的动员和团结。

  That mobilization is essential, as no other social phenomenon affects the integrity of human rights more than poverty – which is why the fight to end it is central to UNESCO’s actions.

  这种动员十分必要，因为没有任何社会现象如同贫困那样影响人权的完整性。也正因如此，与贫困作斗争关涉到教科文组织行动的核心。

  UNESCO is convinced, for instance, that in order to secure a long-term victory over poverty we must trust in the tremendous liberating power of education. A 2017 UNESCO study, in fact, showed that if every pupil in the world completed his or her secondary education, the global poverty rate would be halved.

  例如，为了持久地解决贫困问题，教科文组织坚信，我们必须首先寄望于教育所具有的巨大解放力量。2017年教科文组织的一项研究表明，如果每个学生都完成中等教育学业，世界的贫困率将减少一半。

  Those few figures should suffice to convince States that the best investment to counter poverty remains an investment in education. As such, UNESCO is encouraging its Member States to allocate at least 15% to 20% of their public spending to education, while also urging donors to provide more – and better targeted – international aid for education.

  这些数据应该让各国相信，消除贫困的最佳投资仍然是对教育的投资。正因如此，教科文组织敦促其会员国将至少15%到20%的公共支出用于教育。本组织还鼓励捐助方以更具有针对性的方式增加对教育的国际援助。

  It is also important to highlight the importance of social inclusion in the fight against poverty. We need not only to help vulnerable populations – such as persons with disabilities, minority groups, rural populations, youth and women – but also to represent and include them in public decision-making processes.

  我们还必须强调社会包容在与贫困作斗争方面的重要性。我们不仅要帮助弱势群体，包括残障人士、少数族裔、农村人口、青年和妇女，还要更好地代表他们，并将他们纳入公共决策进程。

  Ultimately, UNESCO’s message on this International Day is that the eradication of poverty can and must be a realistic public policy objective.

  最后，值此国际日，教科文组织愿强调指出，消除贫困可以而且必须成为公共政策的一个现实目标。

来源：UNESCO