英國老百姓如何改善世界?
How Ordinary British People are Aiding the World
中譯/陳怡君
With 2015 coming to an end, United Nations (UN) leaders and delegates have gathered to evaluate how far the world has come in achieving the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set out in 2000. Of the eight goals, the top two goals were to ‘Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty’ and ‘Achieve Universal Primary Education’. Although not official yet, in September 2015 the UN has released the seventeen new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the next fifteen years. Similar to the MDGs, the SDGs’ first goal is ‘No Poverty’, the second is ‘Zero Hunger’, and the fourth is ‘Quality Education’.
隨著2015年進入尾聲,聯合國領導人與代表齊聚一堂,來評估2000年訂定的「千禧年發展目標」(MDGs)於2015年的達成情形。在這八個目標中,前兩大目標是「終結極度飢餓與貧窮」以及「普及初等教育」。儘管尚未達成正式協議,聯合國於2015年9月公布17個新的「永續發展目標」(SDGs),作為未來15年的發展議題。和「千禧年發展目標」類似的是,「永續發展目標」的第一個目標是「消除貧窮」、第二為「零飢餓」、第四個則是「高品質教育」。
Goal One: End povert y in all its forms everywhere
The two main regions of the world that are focused on to eradicate poverty remain the same – sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, where a vast number of people live off less than $1.25 USD a day.
消除貧窮主要聚焦於世界的兩個地區─漠南非洲與南亞,情況沒有多大改善,為數眾多的人口一天生活費不到1.25美元(約新台幣41元)。
Goal Two: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture Did you know that Asia has the hungriest people in the world? Yes, two thirds of Asia’s population lives in hunger. Even though agriculture is the main employer around the world (40% of today’s population), poor nutrition causes 45% of deaths in children under the age of five.
你知道亞洲擁有全球最飢餓的人口嗎?是的, 多達三分之二亞洲人活在飢餓中。儘管多數人從 事的農業是這個世界上主要的行業,(占現今人口40%),但營養不良導致45%兒童活不過五歲。
Goal Four: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning
The MDGs have made great strides in getting children enrolled and attending school, but realized quantity does not equal to quality. Thus, the SDG four focuses on quality over quantity.
儘管「千禧年目標」在讓孩童註冊與上學有顯著進步,但也發現量不等於質,因此「永續發展目標」在第四個目標上重質更勝量。
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Outside the realm of politics, consortiums, and government organizations, lie a great number of charities devoted to the same MDGs and SDGs. One prime example of one person taking action is Ian Sanderson, Founder of Afrinspire. Afrinspire is a Cambridge-based, UK charity that focuses on long-term, sustainable, indigenous development initiatives in Eastern African countries.
在政治範疇、財團與政府機構之外,有為數眾多的慈善機構投入相同的「千禧年發展目標」與「永續發展目標」之中。一個主要的例子就是Afrinspire創辦人伊恩桑德森。Afrinspire是位於英國劍橋的慈善機構,專注在東非國家長期、永續的當地發展計畫。
Afrinspire has several initiatives, all focusing on eradicating poverty through different facets. Their flagship program is cal led Funct ional Adult Literacy, which is for adults to learn basic literacy and numeracy skills in their local language. The results have been staggering, with thousands of families now being able to redeem basic human rights such as filling out government forms and registering their children for school. This aids in achieving SDG four.
Afrinspire有好幾項計畫,全都從不同層面著手來專注於滅除貧窮。Afrinspire的旗艦計畫稱為「實用性成人識字」,目的是讓成人可以學習當地語言的基本識字與算數技能。而這項成果相當驚人,如今數千家庭得以重新獲得基本人權,像是填寫政府表格與為孩子註冊學校等,這項協助有助達成第四個「永續發展目標」。
Sustainable agriculture is the next goal that Afrinspire works with and has a number of projects in this area. Local farmers are taught critical and innovative farming skills and then teach others in their area the same. As a direct result, Afrinspire beneficiaries have enough food on their tables to eat and are able to start selling crops at the market, which achieves SDG two – food security.
永續農業是Afrinspire的下個目標,並在該領域有許多計畫,像是教導當地農人重要與創新的耕種技能,再讓他們教導同區域的其他農人。直接效果是,受惠於Afrinspire的農人能為家裡餐桌帶來足夠糧食,並有餘力在市場銷售農作物, 進而達到第二個永續發展目標─糧食安全。
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Lastly, skills for employment helps reach for the number one goal – ending poverty. From sewing to hairdressing to establishing Internet cafes, Afrinspire has enabled individuals to become entre¬preneurs through providing resources and training as needed. These families are now able to provide for themselves and rise above the poverty threshold, with endless positive effects.
最後,職業技能有助達成消滅貧窮的第一個目標。從縫紉技術到理髮到開設網咖,Afrinspire提供讓個人成為企業家所需的資源與訓練,如今這些家庭能夠養活自己並且跨越貧窮門檻,並帶來許多正面影響。
All in all, Afrinspire is just one example of how one British man sparked a change for thousands, possibly millions of lives and making the world a better place. We have another fifteen years to reach seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, what will you do to make a difference?
總而言之,Afrinspire只是一個英國人如何讓數千人、甚至數百萬人的生命有所不同、並讓這個世界更美好的一個例子。我們還有另個15年來達到17個永續發展目標,你會怎麼做來讓這個世界變得不一樣?
更多精彩內容請見《全球中央》2016年1月號;訂閱 《全球中央數位雜誌》;本文由《全球中央》雜誌授權刊載,未經同意禁止轉載。
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