爱思英语编者按：为纪念在1997年9月5日逝世的特里萨修女，联合国将每年9月5日定为国际慈善日，旨在客观认识并动员全世界人民、非政府组织和利益相关者通过志愿者和慈善活动帮助他人。

Message on International Day of Charity
国际慈善日致辞

5 September 2014
2014年9月5日

Charity plays a significant role in the work of the United Nations and its agencies. Charity may come in many forms, from the volunteering of time and expertise to straightforward financial or in-kind donations by individuals, corporations or philanthropic foundations.  Whatever the case, such generosity and kindness, with no expectation of financial gain, can make profound differences in human well-being.

慈善在联合国及其机构的工作中发挥着举足轻重的作用。慈善的形式多种多样，既有个人、公司或慈善基金自愿奉献时间和才能，也有直接捐献资金和实物，不一而足。无论采取哪种形式，如此不求金钱回报的慷慨和仁爱可对人类福祉产生深远的影响。

At times of intense fiscal and budgetary constraint, charity takes on greater importance in global efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and implement what we hope will be an ambitious post-2015 agenda.  While charity cannot be seen as a replacement or alternative to public spending, it plays an invaluable complementary role.

在财政和预算十分拮据之时，慈善在实现千年发展目标和落实但愿会是雄心勃勃的2015年后议程的全球努力中意义更为重大。虽然不能将慈善视为取代或替代公共开支的方式，但它却发挥着非常宝贵的补充作用。

I welcome this second observance of the International Day of Charity, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly at the initiative of the Permanent Mission of Hungary, to coincide with the anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa, whose life and good works for some of the human family’s poorest and most vulnerable members has been such an enormous inspiration.

我欣见第二次庆祝联合国大会在匈牙利常驻代表团提议下宣布的国际慈善日。这一天正是特里萨修女的忌日。她毕生为人类大家庭中最贫穷、最弱势的一些成员行善，已成为激励我们的巨大动力。

Let us recognize charity for what it is at heart: a noble enterprise aimed at bettering the human condition. On this International Day, I call on people everywhere to act on the charitable impulse that resides in every human being – to start giving and to keep on giving.

让我们确认慈善的本意：一个旨在改善人类条件的崇高伟业。值此国际日，我呼吁世界各地的人们按照人人内心都有的善意行事——开始奉献，并坚持奉献。