Message on the International Mine Awareness Day
國際提高地雷意識和協助地雷行動日致辭
4 April 2020
2020年4月4日
國際提高地雷意識和協助地雷行動日
Decades ago, millions of landmines were buried in countries across the world. From Cambodia to Mozambique, in Angola and in Afghanistan, thousands of lives were lost, with others altered forever because of one unlucky step. The outcry by civil society in the early 1990s drove the multilateral system to take a stand against the use of anti-personnel mines, leading to the Mine Ban Convention of 1997 and other crucial frameworks. Today, many countries have declared themselves mine free – with others well on the way.
幾十年前，世界各地埋設了千百萬枚地雷。從柬埔寨到莫桑比克，從安哥拉到阿富汗，成千上萬的人們因為地雷失去了生命，還有人因為邁錯了一步而永遠改變了人生。1990年代初期民間社會發出了強烈的抗議呼聲，促使多邊體系採取反對使用殺傷人員地雷的立場，1997年《禁雷公約》及其他重要框架就此應運而生。今天，許多國家宣佈已經清除了地雷，而其他國家的清除工作也在積極進行。
Now, the world is facing a daunting pandemic. The dangers posed by COVID-19 are forcing every country, and every person, to take steps that would have seemed unimaginable mere weeks ago. It is for this reason that this year’s observance of the International Day for Mine Awareness has been scaled back. The football tournaments, due to take place on land cleared of explosive ordnance, have been cancelled; the events aimed at bringing together the mine action community will take place virtually, if at all.
當前，世界正面臨一場令人生畏的大流行病。面對2019冠狀病毒病帶來的危險，每個國家、每個民眾被迫採取了就在幾周前都難以想象的措施。正因為如此，今年國際地雷意識宣傳日的活動規模被迫縮小。原定在清除了爆炸物的場地舉行的足球比賽已經取消；為地雷行動界召集的活動也將取消，或者改為在線活動。
Yet, even in the midst of an unprecedented crisis, we cannot let this Day go unnoticed, nor can we allow the rights of persons with disabilities to go unacknowledged. Mines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices threaten some of the most vulnerable people in society: women traveling to markets, farmers herding cattle, humanitarian workers trying to reach those most in need.
然而，我們即使身處前所未有的危機，也要紀念這個國際日，並重申殘疾人的權利。地雷、戰爭遺留爆炸物和簡易爆炸裝置威脅著社會中的最脆弱群體——去市場購物的婦女、放牧的農民以及試圖救援最有需要人們的人道主義工作者。
Moreover, the achievements of the mine action community show that, in working together, we can reach milestones once seen as impossible – a timely message for our efforts today to suppress transmission of the pandemic.
此外，地雷行動界的成就表明，通過共同努力，我們能夠實現過去認為不可能實現的目標——這為我們今天遏制大流行病傳播的努力發出了及時的信息。
So let us remember the people living under the shadow of explosive ordnance, from Syria to Mali and elsewhere. As many people around the world work safely from home, they will remain exposed and vulnerable. And, when the world emerges from today’s crisis, they will continue to need our support.
因此，我們不應忘記敘利亞、馬裡和其他地方在爆炸物陰影下生活的人們。現在，世界各地的許多民眾在家安全工作，但依然處於暴露狀態，易受傷害。到世界擺脫危機的明天，他們仍將需要我們的支持。
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