I want to talk to you today about a difficult topic that is close to me, and closer than you might realize to you.
今天我想要談論的 是一個與我相關,但讓人感到為難的議題 而且也許比你所認為的更與你相關
I came to the UK 21 years ago, as an asylum-seeker. I was 21. I was forced to leave the Democratic Republic of the Congo, my home, where I was a student activist. I would love my children to be able to meet my family in the Congo.
21年前我來到英國 尋求政治避難 我當時21歲 我被迫離開剛果民主共和國 我在家鄉時是個學生社會運動參與者 我很希望 我的孩子能夠見見我在剛果的家人
But I want to tell you what the Congo has got to do with you. But first of all, I want you to do me a favor. Can you all please reach into your pockets and take out your mobile phone? Feel that familiar weight ... how naturally your finger slides towards the buttons.
但在這裡我想告訴你們:剛果究竟與你們有哪些關聯 首先,我想請你們幫我一個忙 能不能請你們將手伸進口袋裡 並拿出你們的手機呢? 感覺一下那熟悉的重量 你的手指在按鍵上的滑動時 感覺多麼自然啊
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Can you imagine your world without it? It connects us to our loved ones, our family, friends and colleagues, at home and overseas. It is a symbol of an interconnected world.
你能想像沒有手機的世界嗎? 手機讓我們與心愛的人 家人、朋友和同事們連結 不分國內外 手機象徵著一個相互連結的世界
But what you hold in your hand leaves a bloody trail, and it all boils down to a mineral: tantalum, mined in the Congo as coltan. It is an anticorrosive heat conductor. It stores energy in our mobile phones, PlayStations and laptops. It is used in aerospace and medical equipment as an alloy. It is so powerful that we only need tiny amounts. It would be great if the story ended there.
但是,你手上的手機其實滿是血印 這一切始於礦物「鉭」 這種在剛果開採的礦稱為鈳鉭鐵礦 是一種具防腐蝕性的熱導體 用在手機、遊戲機或筆記型電腦時 可儲存電力 它也被運用在航空與醫療儀器上 作為合金 它非常地有用 我們只需要極少量就夠了 如果故事能到此結束就很完美
Unfortunately, what you hold in your hand has not only enabled incredible technological development and industrial expansion, but it has also contributed to unimaginable human suffering.
不幸的是,你們手中握著的 並不只是促使科技有驚人的發展 工業擴張 更導致了難以想像的
Since 1996, over five million people have died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Countless women, men and children have been raped, tortured or enslaved. Rape is used as a weapon of war, instilling fear and depopulating whole areas. The quest for extracting this mineral has not only aided, but it has fueled the ongoing war in the Congo.
人類的苦難 1996年後,已有超過五百萬人 在剛果民主共和國死去 數不清的女人、男人與孩子 被強暴、折磨或奴役 強暴被作為一種戰爭的武器 種下恐懼 並滅絕個地區的人口 對於這種礦物的需求 不但助長、更燃起了 在剛果境內不斷延燒的戰火
But don't throw away your phones yet. Thirty thousand children are enlisted and are made to fight in armed groups. The Congo consistently scores dreadfully in global health and poverty rankings. But remarkably, the UN Environmental Programme has estimated the wealth of the country to be over 24 trillion dollars. The state-regulated mining industry has collapsed, and control over mines has splintered. Coltan is easily controlled by armed groups. One well-known illicit trade route is that across the border to Rwanda, where Congolese tantalum is disguised as Rwandan.
不過先不要丟掉你的手機 三萬個孩子被徵召 被迫在武裝軍隊中戰鬥 在健康與貧窮的世界排名中 剛果一直位居末位 但引人注目的是,聯合國環境署 估計這個國家的財富 超過24兆美元 政府管理的採礦展業已經瓦解 而礦產的控制權 已經分裂 鈳鉭鐵礦輕易地被武裝份子掌控 最著名的非法交易路徑之一 便是穿越邊境到盧安達 在那兒剛果的鉭被偽裝成盧安達的礦產
But don't throw away your phones yet, because the incredible irony is that the technology that has placed such unsustainable, devastating demands on the Congo is the same technology that has brought this situation to our attention. We only know so much about the situation in the Congo and in the mines because of the kind of communication the mobile phone allows. As with the Arab Spring, during the recent elections in the Congo, voters were able to send text messages of local polling stations to the headquarters in the capital, Kinshasa. And in the wake of the result, the diaspora has joined with the Carter Center, the Catholic Church and other observers, to draw attention to the undemocratic result.
不過先不要丟掉你的電話 因為難以想像諷刺的是 科技對剛果提出如此難以永續 極具毀滅性的需求 同樣也是科技 引起我們對此情況的注意 我們得以知道這麼多 關於剛果和礦產的狀況 也是透過手機之賜 而得到的訊息 隨著阿拉伯之春的爆發 在最近剛果的選舉中 選民已經可以把地方投票所的訊息 傳送至位在首都金夏沙 的總部 結果公佈後 各地流散的居民聚集在卡特中心 羅馬教會以及其他選舉觀察員 吸引大家關注此次不民主的結果
The mobile phone has given people around the world an important tool towards gaining their political freedom. It has truly revolutionized the way we communicate on the planet. It has allowed momentous political change to take place. So, we are faced with a paradox. The mobile phone is an instrument of freedom and an instrument of oppression.
手機之於全世界的人來說 是得到政治自由的重要工具 手機確實大大改變了 我們與地球上的人們溝通的方式 它促使重大政治改革 發生 所以 我們正面對一個進退兩難的問題 手機是促成自由的工具 也是造成迫害的工具
TED has always celebrated what technology can do for us, technology in its finished form. It is time to be asking questions about technology. Where does it come from? Who makes it? And for what? Here, I am speaking directly to you, the TED community, and to all those who might be watching on a screen, on your phone, across the world, in the Congo. All the technology is in place for us to communicate, and all the technology is in place to communicate this.
TED總是 讚揚科技能為我們帶來什麼好處 科技成為了完美的存在 現在正是時候 對科技提出質疑 科技從哪裡來? 誰創造了它? 為什麼存在? 在這裡,我有話想直接對你們說 對TED社群 也對所有可能透過電腦螢幕 手機觀看 在世界各地、以及身在剛果的人們說 所有的科技都是為了讓我們溝通 所有的科技也讓我們得以討論這個問題
At the moment, there is no clear fair-trade solution. But there has been a huge amount of progress. The US has recently passed legislation to target bribery and misconduct in the Congo. Recent UK legislation could be used in the same way. In February, Nokia unveiled its new policy on sourcing minerals in the Congo, and there is a petition to Apple to make a conflict-free iPhone. There are campaigns spreading across university campuses to make their colleges conflict-free. But we're not there yet. We need to continue mounting pressure on phone companies to change their sourcing processes.
在這個時候 沒有明確促使公平交易的解決之道 但是關於此議題已經有很大的進步 像是美國最近通過立法 來解決剛果民主共和國的賄賂與管理不善的問題 近來英國的立法機關也有類似的作法 二月時,諾基亞針對剛果的礦產資源 發佈新的政策 還有給蘋果公司的請願書 訴請蘋果製造零衝突的 iPhone手機 也有遊行集會 宣傳於各大學校園 訴求零衝突的校園 但我們還沒有成功 我們需要不斷地對手機廠商 施加壓力
When I first came to the UK, 21 years ago, I was homesick. I missed my family and the friends I left behind. Communication was extremely difficult. Sending and receiving letters took months -- if you were lucky. Often, they never arrived. Even if I could have afforded the phone bills home, like most people in the Congo, my parents did not own a phone line.
使他們改變開發原物料的程序 當我21年前第一次來到英國時 我很想家 我想念留在家鄉的家人和朋友 而連繫在當時相當困難 信件往返要花費好幾個月 假如你運氣好,信件還可能會被寄丟 就算我當時可以負擔 打電話回家的通話費 就像剛果民主共和國的大多數人一樣 我爸媽並沒有電話
Today, my two sons -- David and Daniel, can talk to my parents and get to know them. Why should we allow such a wonderful, brilliant and necessary product to be the cause of unnecessary suffering for human beings?
今天,我的兩個兒子 大衛和丹尼爾 已經可以和我父母通話藉此了解他們 為什麼我們容許 如此美好、傑出,且不可缺少的產品 成為製造人類不必要苦難的 始作俑者
We demand fair-trade food and fair-trade clothes. It is time to demand fair-trade phones. This is an idea worth spreading.
我們要求公平交易的食物 以及公平交易的衣物 現在是時候要求公平交易的手機了 這是一個值得分享的想法 謝謝
Thank you.
(鼓掌)
(Applause)