Message on International Women’s Day

　　国际妇女节致辞

　　“From the Glass Ceiling to a Carpet of Shards”

　　“把玻璃天花板打得粉碎”

　　8 March 2016

　　2016年3月8日

　　As a boy growing up in post-war Korea, I remember asking about a tradition I observed: women going into labour would leave their shoes at the threshold and then look back in fear. “They are wondering if they will ever step into those shoes again,” my mother explained.

　　我在战后的韩国长大，小时候我注意到当地有这么一个传统：孕妇在进屋分娩之前，都先把鞋脱了放在门口，然后满脸害怕地回头看自己的鞋，我问妈妈这是为什么，妈妈解释道，“她们都担心自己能否活着再次穿上这鞋”。

　　More than a half-century later, the memory continues to haunt me. In poor parts of the world today, women still risk death in the process of giving life. Maternal mortality is one of many preventable perils. All too often, female babies are subjected to genital mutilation. Girls are attacked on their way to school. Women’s bodies are used as battlefields in wars. Widows are shunned and impoverished.

　　半个多世纪已经过去，这一记忆依然在我脑海里挥之不去。当今世界，贫困地区的妇女依然可能因孕产而死亡。而这一风险其实是可以预防的。很多时候，女婴外阴遭到残割。女童在上学途中遭到袭击。妇女在战场上被用来当人肉盾牌。寡妇受到排斥，深陷贫穷。

　　We can only address these problems by empowering women as agents of change.

　　如要解决这些问题，必须增强妇女权能，让她们成为变革的推动者。

　　For more than nine years, I have put this philosophy into practice at the United Nations. We have shattered so many glass ceilings we created a carpet of shards. Now we are sweeping away the assumptions and bias of the past so women can advance across new frontiers.

　　九年多以来，我一直在联合国践行这一理念。我们已经打碎了很多玻璃天花板。并在继续扫除陋习和偏见，为妇女开辟新天地。

　　I appointed the first-ever female Force Commander of United Nations troops, and pushed women’s representation at the upper levels of our Organization to historic highs. Women are now leaders at the heart of peace and security – a realm that was once the exclusive province of men. When I arrived at the United Nations, there were no women leading our peace missions in the field. Now, nearly a quarter of all UN missions are headed by women – far from enough but still a vast improvement.

　　我任命了首位女性联合国部队指挥官，并将本组织高层的女性代表程度提高到了历史最高水平。甚至在曾专属于男性的和平与安全核心领域，妇女已经开始担任领导角色。在我初来联合国之时，外地和平特派团里没有女团长。如今，近四分之一的联合国特派团由妇女领导——这一数字还远远不够，但相比以前已有巨大进展。

　　I have signed nearly 150 letters of appointment to women in positions as Assistant Secretary-General or Under-Secretary-General. Some came from top government offices with international renown, others have moved on to leadership positions in their home countries. All helped me prove how often a woman is the best person for a job.

　　我签署了近150份任命妇女担任助理秘书长或副秘书长的任用书。这些妇女有些来自享誉国际的政府高层办事处，有些已在本国担任领导职务。她们都证明了，妇女往往是众多职位的最佳人选。

　　To ensure that this very real progress is lasting, we have built a new framework that holds the entire UN system accountable. Where once gender equality was seen as a laudable idea, now it is a firm policy. Before, gender sensitivity training was optional; now it is mandatory for ever-greater numbers of UN staff. In the past, only a handful of UN budgets tracked resources for gender equality and women’s empowerment; now this is standard for nearly one in three, and counting.

　　为确保这一进展真正持久，我们设立了对整个联合国系统问责的新框架。曾经，性别平等仅被视为值得称道的理念，如今已成切实政策。曾经，性别敏感度培训仅是备选项，如今已成为越来越多联合国工作人员的必选项。曾经，仅为数不多的联合国预算跟踪促进性别平等和妇女赋权的资源;如今，近三分之一的预算将其作为标准，并且这一比例仍在上升。

　　Confucius taught that to put the world in order, we must begin in our own circles. Armed with proof of the value of women leaders at the United Nations, I have spoken out for women’s empowerment everywhere. In speeches at parliaments, universities and street rallies, in private talks with world leaders, in meetings with corporate executives and in tough conversations with powerful men ruling rigidly patriarchal societies, I have insisted on women’s equality and urged measures to achieve it.

　　孔子曾言，修身齐家，而后治国平天下。妇女领袖在联合国的成就向全球证明了妇女的价值，我常常以此为例在世界各地倡导妇女赋权。在面向议会、大学和街头集会的致辞中，在与世界领导人的私下对话中，在与企业领袖的会面中，甚至在与僵化宗法社会的男性统治者的意见交锋中，我始终坚定地推崇性别平等，并敦促各方为实现这一目标而采取措施。

　　When I took office, there were nine parliaments in the world with no women. We helped to drive that number down to four. I launched the UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign in 2008; today, scores of leaders and ministers, hundreds parliamentarians and millions of individuals have added their names to the action call.

　　在我就任之初，全世界有九个议会没有妇女。在我们的推动下，这一数字降至四个。2008年，我发起了“联合国制止暴力侵害妇女行为联合运动”;如今数十名领导人和部长、数百名议员以及数百万人共同加入了这一行动呼吁。

　　I was the first man to sign our HeForShe campaign, and more than a million others have joined since. I stood with activists calling for the abandonment of female genital mutilation and celebrated when the General Assembly adopted its first-ever resolution supporting that goal. I am echoing the calls of many who know women can drive success in achieving our bold 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and advancing the Paris Agreement on climate change.

　　我带头签署了“男性促进女性权利”运动，此后100多万人参加了这一运动。我与有识之士一道呼吁摒弃残割女性生殖器官的陋习，并在大会通过首项支持该目标的决议时欢欣鼓舞。和许多人一样，我也坚信妇女有助于促进实现宏伟的2030年可持续发展议程并促进关于气候变化的巴黎协定，并呼吁让妇女参与其中。

　　On this International Women’s Day, I remain outraged by the denial of rights to women and girls – but I take heart from the people everywhere who act on the secure knowledge that women’s empowerment leads to society’s advancement. Let us devote solid funding, courageous advocacy and unbending political will to achieving gender equality around the world. There is no greater investment in our common future.

　　值此国际妇女节，我对依然存在的剥夺妇女和女童权利的行为感到愤慨，同时，我对世界各地许多人民已意识到增强妇女权能有助于推动社会进步并已采取行动的现象感到欣慰。让我们提供可靠供资、大力宣传和坚定的政治意愿，实现全世界的性别平等。这是对我们共同的未来的最大投资。

（编辑：何莹莹）