VOA常速英语:Gender Equality Benefits Everyone(翻译)

Gender equality has powerful potential to improve the economy, security and the overall well-being of a population.
性别平等有着强大的潜力，可以改善经济、安全、以及人口整体福利水平。

“If the world closed the gender gap in workforce participation, global [Gross Domestic Product] would increase by 28 trillion dollars by 2025... That’s about a quarter of the world’s current GDP, and almost half of the world’s current debt,”said U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Catherine Russell in a recent speech. She also noted that “studies have found that countries with less gender inequality are more secure, and peace agreements last longer when women are at the negotiating table.”
“如果全球消除了劳动力人口中的性别差异，到2025年全球GDP总额将会增加28万亿美元。那相当于目前全球GDP的四分之一，差不多是全球国家所背负债务的一半，”美国负责全球妇女事务的特使凯瑟琳·拉塞尔在最近一次讲话中如是说道。她还指出，“研究发现性别不平等程度越低的国家越安全，而当有女性出席谈判的时候，和平协议将会持续更长的时间。”

Nonetheless, no country in the world can boast that it has achieved full gender equality.
尽管如此，全世界没有任何一个国家可以夸耀自己已经实现了完全的性别平等。

“Around the world, women are vastly underrepresented in politics and the workforce, particularly in leadership positions and other high-paying jobs,” said Ambassador Russell. At the same time, women make up the bulk of the poor.“I’ve heard people say that poverty has a female face, and that makes sense when you consider that women control just one-fifth of global wealth,” said Ambassador Russell.
“在全球各地，女性在政治和劳动中的代表还远远不足，尤其是处于领导位置和其他高收入工作的人还远远不够，”拉塞尔大使如是说道。与此同时，贫穷人口中大部分都是女性。“我曾经听人说贫穷是一个女人，而当你考虑到全世界女性仅仅拥有全球五分之一的财富的时候，这句话还是有点道理的，”拉塞尔大使如是说道。

World leaders are beginning to recognize that everyone benefits from advancing gender equality, she said. This is why gender equality is part of U.S. foreign policy. A key part of U.S. efforts focus on educating and empowering girls.In the past 18 months, the United States launched its global strategy to empower adolescent girls, as well as Let Girls Learn, which is a Presidential initiative that focuses on educating girls.
拉塞尔大使指出，世界各国领导人开始意识到这样一件事—所有人都可以从推进性别平等中获益。这就是为什么性别平等是美国外交政策的一部分的原因了。在美国所作出的努力中，很关键的一部分就是关注对女性的教育和授权。在过去的一年半里，美国推出了一项全球战略来授权青少年女性，发起了一项名为“女性学习（Let Girls Learn）”的总统计划，专注于教育女性。

We are also working with numerous countries to dismantle barriers that keep women from inheriting or owning property,entering the formal job market or accessing banking services.
我们也正在和许多国家进行合作，来扫清女性继承或拥有遗产、进入正式就业市场、以及获得银行服务的障碍。

“Gender equality sometimes looks like an impossible task—a pursuit without an end,” said Ambassador Russell. “But…we can make progress, and that progress is worth making. Little by little, discussion by discussion, step by step, we can improve the lives of women and girls, men and boys all around the world.And in doing so, we can reach our shared goals of peace, prosperity, and security.”
“性别平等有时候看起来好像一件不可能完成的任务—是一个永无止境的追求，”拉塞尔大使如是说道。“但是，我们可以取得进展，而那些进展值得我们为之努力。渐渐地、逐渐讨论、一步接一步地，我们可以改善全世界所有女性和男性的生活。如此一来，我们就可以实现和平、繁荣、安全的共同目标。”