Message from Ms. Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of the International Youth Day
教科文组织总干事伊琳娜·博科娃在国际青年日的致辞
12 August 2016
2016年8月12日
Young people are not only our future – they are our present. Our planet has never been so young, with 1.8 billion young women and men. They are the most connected, the most outspoken and the most open-minded generation the world has ever seen. They are powerful agents of positive change, essential to taking forward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
青年不仅仅是我们的未来，他们也是我们的现在。当今世界，青年人数高达18亿——我们的地球从未这般年轻。他们也是迄今最为紧密相联、最为直言不讳和最具开放心态的一代。他们是实现《2030年可持续发展议程》所不可或缺的积极变革的强大推动力。
It is not enough to hope for a better tomorrow – we must act now. Change is underway, and millions of citizens are already transforming the way we produce, consume, behave and communicate. Young people, such as our #YouthofUNESCO sustainable consumption advocate, Ms Lauren Singer, show us the way towards a zero-waste life-style, fitting all of her refuse produced over the past four years into one small jar! This is an inspiration for this year’s celebration – The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Production and Consumption.
仅仅期望一个更美好的未来是不够的，我们必须立即行动起来。变革大潮已然来临，数以百万计的公民已经开始转变我们的生产、消费、行事和交流的方式。像可持续消费倡导者 Lauren Singer这样的年轻人为我们展示了如何走向零垃圾生活方式（#YouthofUNESCO），她过去四年产生的所有垃圾能塞进一只小罐！这启迪了我们今年的庆祝活动——通往2030年之路：消除贫穷和实现可持续的生产和消费。
There are countless initiatives like this, all giving shape to a new humanism, to new forms of solidarity and citizenship to combat poverty, marginalization and despair.
类似倡议数不胜数，它们共同丰富着新人文主义、催生新形式的团结与公民意识以抵御贫穷、边缘化和绝望。
Optimism and confidence do not mean we minimize the challenges ahead. Most young people live today in least developed countries, and shoulder the heaviest burden of conflicts and poverty. There can be no sustainable development if they remain on the side-lines, and I call upon all Member States and UNESCO partners to support their initiatives, to give them voice, to let them grow, to shape together the future of dignity that we are building today.
在乐观和自信的同时，我们并不轻视未来的挑战。今天，大多数青年人生活在最不发达国家，受冲突和贫困的影响最深。如果他们继续被边缘化，可持续发展就不可能实现。因此，我呼吁所有会员国以及教科文组织的合作伙伴支持他们的倡议、给予他们发言权、帮助他们成长，共同打造一个人人享有尊严的未来。
