Credit:  UN Photo / Manuel Elias /  Simultaneous United Nations interpreters working  at a Security Council Meeting.

By Gary Raynaldo    /    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED NATIONS  –  NEW YORK –   They operate mostly unnoticed  in the shadows, behind the scenes at the world headquarters of the United Nations. But they are a crucial part of the ongoing function of the world’s most important international body. They are the translators. The UN last week paid tribute to the language professionals who offer translation and interpretation services with its International Translation Day.  The UN honored their services that bring nations together, facilitate dialogue, and contribute to world peace. Transposition of a literary or scientific work, including technical work, from one language into another language, professional translation, including translation proper, interpretation and terminology, is indispensable to preserving clarity, a positive climate and productiveness in international public discourse and interpersonal communication, according to the UN.

Credit: UN Photo /  UN translators working in booth at world headquarters in New York

On 24 May 2017, the General Assembly adopted resolution 71/288 on the role of language professionals in connecting nations and fostering peace, understanding and development, and declared 30 September as International Translation Day.  This years theme is The UN International Year of Indigenous Languages. Each year, translators, interpreters and terminologists celebrate International Translation Day on 30 September, the feast of St. Jerome.

“I care deeply about multilingualism, a core value of the United Nations,”

-UN Secretary-General António  Guterres

Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are the six officials languages of the United Nations.  Every year since 2005, the United Nations invites all its staff, accredited permanent missions staff and students from select partner universities to compete in the UN St. Jerome Translation Contest, a contest which rewards the best translations in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish as well as German, and aims to celebrate multilingualism and highlight the important role of translators and other language professionals in multilateral diplomacy.

St. Jerome, the Bible translator who is considered the patron saint of translators.  St. Jerome was a priest from North-eastern Italy, who is known mostly for his endeavour of translating most of the Bible into Latin from the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. He also translated parts of the Hebrew Gospel into Greek. He was of Illyrian ancestry and his native tongue was the Illyrian dialect. He learnt Latin in school and was fluent in Greek and Hebrew, which he learnt from his studies and travels. Jerome died near Bethlehem on 30 September 420.