天枰不能失衡 世界應關注女孩教育

Right now, more than 62m girls around the world are out of school — a heartbreaking injustice that deprives these girls of the chance to develop their potential. Too often, young women face insurmountable barriers to attend school: unaffordable school fees; early and forced marriage and pregnancy; and societal beliefs that girls are simply less worthy of an education than boys.

現在全球有逾6200萬名女孩失學，這種令人難過的不公平剝奪了這些女孩發展潛能的機會。年輕女孩往往面臨不可逾越的障礙、阻擋她們走入學堂：負擔不起學費；被迫早早結婚和懷孕，以及認爲女孩受教育價值就是不如男孩的社會觀念。

This is not just a moral issue — it is a serious public health issue: girls who attend secondary school marry and have children later, have lower rates of maternal and infant mortality and HIV/Aids, and are more likely to immunise their children. It is a national security issue, as education is one of the best weapons we have in the fight against violent extremism. And girls’ education is an urgent economic issue. Studies show that each additional year a girl attends school can increase her earning power by 10 to 20 per cent, and that sending more girls to secondary school can boost a country’s entire economy.

這不只是道德問題——它也是一個嚴重的公共健康問題：上過中學的女孩結婚和要小孩比較遲，孕產婦和嬰兒死亡率、以及人類免疫缺陷病毒與艾滋病(HIV/Aids)感染率都較低，而且更有可能給她們的孩子接種疫苗。這是一個國家安全問題，因爲教育是我們打擊暴力極端主義的最佳武器之一。女孩教育還是一個緊迫的經濟問題。研究表明，女孩每多上一年學，她們賺取收入的能力就會提高10%至20%，而且讓更多的女孩上中學可以提振一國的整體經濟。

But for me, this is not just about policy or economics. This is deeply personal, because I come to this issue not just as a first lady but as a mother.

但對我而言，這不僅關乎政策或經濟。這是一個非常私人的問題，因爲我不僅是以第一夫人的身份、還是以母親的身份提出這個問題。

Every time I meet these girls on my travels abroad, I am blown away by their passion, intelligence and hunger to learn — and I cannot help but see my daughters in them. Like my own girls, each of these young women has the spark of something extraordinary inside. The only difference is that my girls have had the opportunity to develop their promise. So all of us who are parents and grandparents need to ask ourselves whether we would ever accept our own precious girls being pulled out of school and married off to grown men at the age of 12, becoming pregnant at 13, confined to a life of dependence and, often times, fear and abuse.

每次在海外旅行期間遇到這些失學女孩的時候，我都被她們的熱情、聰慧和求學的渴望所打動——我也不由自主地由她們想到我女兒。與我自己的女兒一樣，所有這些年輕女孩身上全都閃現着某種內在的特別的東西。唯一的不同在於，我的兩個女兒有機會發展她們的潛能。因此所有爲人父母和祖父母的人都有必要捫心自問，我們是否願意讓自己家的寶貝閨女在12歲失學並嫁給成年男性，在13歲懷孕，終生被侷限於一種依附他人、往往還難以擺脫恐懼和虐待的生活。

That kind of life is unthinkable for the girls in our lives, so why would we accept this fate for any girl on this planet?

這種生活對生活在我們身邊的女孩來說是不可想象的，那麼我們爲何能對這種命運降臨到這個星球上的任何女孩頭上坦然待之？

This week I will join Prime Minister David Cameron in London to begin to answer that question, and announce a series of new partnerships between the US and the UK to educate adolescent girls in developing countries around the world.

本週我將會在倫敦和英國首相戴維?卡梅倫(David Cameron)一起開始回答這個問題，並宣佈美國與英國一系列新的合作計劃，這些計劃旨在爲全世界發展中國家的少女提供教育機會。

The UK has long been a global leader for adolescent girls’ education worldwide. America has invested as well, launching an initiative earlier this year called Let Girls Learn, which includes efforts by US Peace Corps volunteers to help communities in developing countries find their own solutions, such as girls’ leadership camps and mentorship programmes.

英國長期以來一直是世界各地少女教育的全球領導者。美國也進行了投資，今年早些時候開啓了一個名爲“讓女孩學習”(Let Girls Learn)的項目，其內容包括由美國和平隊(US Peace Corps)的志願者幫助發展中國家的社區找到自己的解決辦法，比如女孩領導力訓練營和導師計劃。

Our new partnerships build on these efforts, bringing new focus to reach even more adolescent girls across the globe. Among them is an effort of up to $180m over five years in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which will benefit more than 750,000 girls.

我們新的合作項目建立在這些努力的基礎之上，並把新的重點放在讓世界各地的更多少女受益上面。其中一項努力包括在5年時間裏在剛果民主共和國投資至多1.8億美元，這將讓逾75萬名女孩受益。

In addition, our development agencies and two of our countries’ leading universities will collaborate on evidence-based research to determine the best ways to educate adolescent girls. And British and American partners will work together to support teacher training, girls’ leadership camps, and other community-based programmes in developing countries.

此外，我們的負責發展問題的機構和美英兩國的兩所知名大學，將合作開展循證研究、以確定教育少女的最佳方式。英美雙方參與合作的人員將協同支持發展中國家的教師培訓，女孩領導力訓練營以及其他社區項目。

Combined, these efforts total nearly $200m — but, given the scope of this challenge, even that is nowhere near sufficient. Girls’ education is a global issue that requires a global solution. That’s why, in March, I travelled to Japan and stood with Akie Abe, the wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as we announced a similar partnership between the US and Japan to help girls worldwide attend school.

總體而言，這些投資價值近2億美元，但鑑於這是一項巨大的挑戰，即便是這樣的投資也遠遠不夠。女孩教育是一個需要提出全球解決方案的全球性問題。正因爲此，今年3月我去了日本，和日本首相安倍晉三(Shinzo Abe)的夫人安倍昭惠(Akie Abe)站在一起，宣佈了類似的美日合作項目、以幫助全世界的女孩上學。

I intend to use my remaining time as first lady — and beyond — to rally leaders across the globe to join us in this work. Because every girl, no matter where she lives.

我打算在自己擔任美國第一夫人的剩餘時間裏（以及之後）召集世界各地的領導人加入我們的這項工作，因爲每個女孩都應該有機會發展她自己的潛力，無論她生活在哪裏。