Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
联合国教科文组织总干事伊琳娜·博科娃在“消除种族歧视国际日”的致辞
21 March, 2015
2015年3月21日
Knowledge of history and memory of past crimes can allow us to build a future of peace, providing an antidote to hatred and prejudice. It is in this spirit that International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is dedicated this year to the theme of “Learning from historical tragedies to combat racial discrimination today.”
对历史的认识和对过去罪行的记忆就像仇恨和偏见的一剂解药，使我们得以构建和平的未来。为此，今年的消除种族歧视国际日的主题是保存贩奴记忆。
UNESCO has been working tirelessly for many years to disseminate teaching of the history of slavery and the slave trade, recognized as a crime against humanity in 2001. It is essential to deconstruct stereotypes and prejudices that have justified the exploitation of human beings by other human beings and which still persist today, based on ignorance and hatred in various forms of racial discrimination, xenophobia and the rejection of others.
教科文组织多年来不懈努力推进关于奴隶制和贩卖奴隶这一在2001年被认定为反人类罪的历史教育。我们一定要消除认为可以剥削他人的各种成见和偏见，今天，依托无知和仇恨，这些成见和偏见仍然以形式多样的种族歧视、仇外和排斥他人而存在。
By conducting educational and cultural programmes, such as the Slave Route Project and the General History of Africa, and by preserving documentary heritage through the Memory of the World Programme, our conviction is that, while the crimes mobilized several nations, the memory of those crimes can now, in a reverse action, bring countries together and highlight the irreversible connections that have been created between peoples. This message is essential today, to help people to live together in our multicultural societies and this is precisely the message of the International Decade for People of African Descent.
通过开展“奴隶之路”和《非洲通史》这样的教育和文化项目，以及保护世界记忆计划的文献遗产，我们笃信，如果罪行驱动过一些国家，那么今天，对罪行的记忆可能反过来促进国家间的团结，凸显不同民族之间建立起的不可逆转的联系。这一信息今天至关重要，它有助于我们在这个多元文化的社会中共处，这也正是国际非洲裔人十年所要传达的信息。
Our first duty is to remember that past tragedies also shed light on the courage and determination of those who have advanced human dignity by fighting against oppression until slavery was abolished. We are all eternally indebted and this resolve must guide the fight against modern forms of slavery, oppression and discrimination. The initiatives of the International Coalition of Cities against Racism show that significant progress is possible in the fight against racism and discrimination through the adoption of more effective local anti-discrimination policies.
我们尤其应当重申，过去的悲剧也让我们看到了那些捍卫人类尊严、反对压迫直至废除奴隶制的人们所展现的勇气和决心。我们永远感激他们，这种意愿应当指引我们打击各种现代形式的奴隶制、压迫和歧视。国际反种族主义城市联盟倡议表明，通过采取更有效的地方性反歧视政策，反种族主义和歧视的斗争有可能取得重大进展。
At a time when the United Nations are inaugurating the Permanent Memorial to Honour the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, transmitting this history remains a compass to guide us towards the future to build peace in the minds of men and women. There is no more powerful driving force for dignity and freedom. This is the meaning of the words of Toussaint Louverture, leader of the victorious slave revolt in Haiti in 1791: “I was born a slave, but nature gave me the soul of a free man
在联合国为奴隶制和贩卖奴隶行为受害者永久纪念碑揭幕之际，历史传承仍是我们照亮未来、在人的思想中构建和平的指南针。它是尊严和自由最为强大的驱动力。1791年成功领导海地奴隶反抗的图森·鲁威尔杜尔的话语中也同样蕴含着这一意义：“我生为奴隶，但上天赋予我自由人的灵魂。”
来源：UNESCO
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