瑟利夫夫人在哈佛大学2011年毕业典礼上的演讲(8)

2009年，奥巴马总统在加纳议会致辞时，提醒非洲人民，这块大陆的变革不能再依赖过去的伟人。我们所有国家的未来，掌握在年轻人手中，就像你们这样的年轻人。奥巴马说：”你们充满才华、热情和希望，能够实现过去许多代人无法设想的未来。”

While many challenges persist, times have changed and the world you enter today,

graduates of the Class of 2011, is much more accountable than the one we faced. At the beginning of this year, 17 elections were scheduled across our continent. In 1989, there were three democracies in sub-Saharan Africa; by 2008, there were 23. That is progress. This is a significant improvement from the days when violent overthrows were the default means of transition. A clear example stands out in West Africa. Although they did not get as much focus as postelection violence in C?te d’Ivoire, Niger and Guinea proved exemplary where the military oversaw democratic elections, turned power over to the civilian government, and returned to the barracks. In the case of C?te d’Ivoire, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union recognized a nonincumbent as the legitimate winner. That, again, is progress.

虽然存在那么多挑战，但是时代已经变了，作为2011届毕业生，你们走进的世界远比我们曾经面对的世界更加合理。今年，非洲大陆计划中的民主选举有17次。1989年，在撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲只有3次。2008年，就增加到了23次。这就是进步。在非洲大陆推行变革的方式，以前是暴力颠覆，相比那时，现在就是显著的改善。整个西部非洲的局势变化，就是一个明显的例子。虽然科特迪瓦选举后的暴力冲突得到了广泛报道，但是尼日尔和几内亚的例子才是主流，它们的军队监督了民主选举，将政权转移到了民选政府手中，然后回到兵营，它们可以充当楷模。就科特迪瓦而言，西非国家经济体和非洲联盟认可一个非现职的竞选人为当选者，这也是一个进步。

We also see evidence of this progress in the African economy, which has been growing at more than 5 percent over the past decade. A recent African Development Bank report measured the rise of the middle class in Africa, totaling 313 million out of 1 billion Africans. The countries experiencing exceptional growth in their middle class include Ghana, Mozambique, Mali, Tanzania, Cape Verde, Botswana, Burkina Faso, and Rwanda. This middle class is changing the face of Africa. We are moving away from dependence on extractive industries and agriculture. There is a rising consumer class that helped brace Africa during the global economic crisis. This is emblematic not only of the progress in purchasing power in Africa, but in the progress that means you can still put food on the table for your family when the rains fail, that you can engage intelligently in political debates and hold your leaders accountable.

我们还看到了非洲经济的进步，过去十年它的增长率超过了5%。一份近期的非洲发展银行报告，研究了非洲中产阶级的崛起，10亿非洲人之中有3.13亿。加纳、莫桑比克、马里、坦桑尼亚、佛得角、博茨瓦纳、布基纳法索、卢旺达的中产阶级人数，都在史无前例地增长。我们正在摆脱对采掘业和农业的依赖。我们的消费者阶层正在不断扩大，有助于非洲度过这次全球经济危机。这不仅意味着非洲购买力进步，也意味着当天气变化时你可以在家里储存食物，还意味着你能理性地参与政治争论，使政治领导人负起责任来。