Message from Ms. Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child

　　教科文组织总干事伊琳娜·博科娃女士在国际女童日的致辞

　　11 October 2016

　　2016年10月11日

　　The theme of this International Day of the Girl Child is dedicated to “Child marriage”.

　　今年国际女童日的主题是“童婚”问题。

　　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.

　　在当今世界上，消除早婚方面所取得的进展极其有限。每年有1500万少女未满 18 周岁就结婚。在发展中国家，有九分之一的少女未满 15周岁就出嫁。尽管在许多国家我们可以看到(?)初婚的平均年龄在逐渐提高，但这主要限于那些较高收入家庭的孩子。

　　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.

　　早婚很少是一个选择，它是贫困、排斥、歧视和暴力的恶性循环代代相传所导致的结果。当一个女孩被迫早婚时，受到威胁的不仅是她个人的未来，也包括全社会的福祉。未满18周岁就结婚的女孩，通常就此告别了正规教育，使得她们身上所蕴含的宝贵潜力和创造力不能为社会所用。同时，她们也更易于遭遇家暴、早孕甚至难产死亡，这让整个世界都蒙上阴影，让我们每个人都为之黯然神伤。

　　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.

　　对于女孩来说，在学校多接受一年教育，就会有助于她们摆脱贫困，增加社会交往，提升对生活前景的期望。但是，仅仅把女童招进学校是不够的，我们必须帮助她们留在课堂上，让她们自始至终完成中等教育。这是建设更强大的社区、包容且坚韧的社会的最佳途径。如果我们一起行动起来，今天这个日子，就能成为终结童婚这类陋习的标志性开端。这个问题不仅事关发展，也是人权领域的当务之急。

（编辑：何莹莹）