Message from Ms. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of International Women's Day
教科文组织总干事奥德蕾·阿祖莱国际妇女节致辞
8 March 2020
2020年3月8日
"Women are born free and remain equal to men in rights." Today, Article 1 of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, written in 1791 by Olympe de Gouges, seems to us to state the obvious, but at the time of its publication, this message of justice, dignity and equality was still far from being the common opinion.
“女人生而自由,与男人权利平等。”这句话见载于奥兰普·德古热1791年撰写的《女权和女公民权宣言》第一条。这样的主张今天在我们看来似乎是不言自明的,但在当年发表之时,这一充满正义、尊严和平等的理念尚远未成为共识。
Since then, the cause of equality has made significant progress –particularly in recent years. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, whose 25th anniversary we are celebrating this year, was a catalyst for many initiatives in this regard.
从那时起,特别是近年来,性别平等事业取得了重大进步。25年前通过的《北京宣言》和《行动纲要》,催生了诸多争取性别平等的倡议活动。
Today, however, this ideal of equality remains a far horizon for too many women in the world. As António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, has reminded us, gender equality and empowerment of women and girls is the unfinished business of our time.
然而,今天,性别平等的理想对于世界上太多的女性来说仍然遥不可及。正如联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯所指出的那样,性别平等、增强妇女和女童权能,是我们这个时代未竟的事业。
Whether in education or in the labour market, many inequalities –many injustices –persist. That is why UNESCO has made gender equality one of its two cross-cutting priorities, along with Africa.
无论是在教育领域还是在劳动力市场,很多不平等和不公正现象依然存在。正因如此,教科文组织才将性别平等与非洲一道列为其两项总体优先事项。
On this International Day, UNESCO would like to focus in particular on inequalities in science and technology. UNESCO statistics have shown that women are currently four times less likely than men to master digital skills, even though these skills will be at the centre of future societies.
值此国际日之际,教科文组织特别关注科技领域的不平等现象。教科文组织的统计数据显示,目前女性掌握数字技能的可能性仅为男性的四分之一,而数字技能将成为未来社会的核心技能。
The development of artificial intelligence (AI), which constitutes a major scientific and anthropological breakthrough, threatens to deepen these inequalities. Indeed, since women researchers are under-represented in the sector of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the algorithms developed tend to reproduce gender stereotypes by amplifying them, as shown in the UNESCO publication I'd Blush if I Could. If we do nothing, there is a risk that AI will be the adversary, not the ally, of equality.
人工智能的发展虽然是科学和人类学的重大突破,却有可能加深不平等的鸿沟。事实上,由于女性研究人员在科学、技术、工程和数学领域的代表性不足,目前开发出来的算法往往会复制并扩大既有的性别成见,正如教科文组织出版物《如果我能,我会脸红》所显示的那样。如果我们无所作为,人工智能就有成为性别平等的对手而不是盟友的风险。
The last General Conference of UNESCO marked a historic step forward, which will help to counter this growing risk. The Member States have hence mandated UNESCO to launch work on the elaboration of the first global standard-setting instrument on the ethics of AI. By neutralizing algorithmic biases, we will thus help technology to serve –and not disserve –the cause of equality.
教科文组织大会上届会议上,会员国授权教科文组织启动拟订第一份关于人工智能伦理问题的全球准则性文书工作。这是向前迈出的历史性的一步,它将有助于应对这一日益增长的风险。通过消除算法中的偏见,我们也会帮助技术服务于而不是有碍于性别平等事业。
To fight for women's rights is to fight for a universal goal of dignity. On this International Day, UNESCO would like to call on each and every one of us to rally around this common ambition that we have yet to achieve.
为女性的权利而战,就是为尊严这个普世目标而战。值此国际日之际,教科文组织呼吁我们所有人携手并肩,为了这一尚未实现的共同蓝图继续奋斗。