The United Nations Building in Bangkok

Organisations within the United Nations system are major organisers of international conferences requiring simultaneous interpreting services. All CIAP members work regularly for UN agencies and their related projects, and even the UN assisted Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Cambodia.

This recent article from the UN News Centre?highlights some of the challenges faced by UN interpreters, especially when dealing with delicate diplomatic matters. As interpreters at some of the international community’s marathon negotiations, we are in a unique position to watch the debates unfold and see how sticking points are resolved.

This article in French from Le Monde offers a glimpse behind the scenes of the 5th session of the International Seed Treaty’s governing body, held in Oman in September 2013, where former CIAP associate Annie Trottier was part of the interpreting team.

Simultaneous interpreters at the 1945 Nuremberg Trials

The Nuremberg Trials were a historically significant event – one that laid the foundations of international criminal justice as we know it today. The trials also witnessed the breakthrough of another phenomenon that has been shaping international economic and political relations ever since: the art of simultaneous interpreting. Without the contribution of the interpreters, the four-language proceedings of 1945 would not have been possible.

“One trial – four languages: The breakthrough for simultaneous interpreting and its consequences” is a series of events that presents the historical developments leading on from the Nuremberg Trials and the work of interpreters today. This includes the specificities of court interpreting, the deployment of interpreters in conflict zones and interpreting at present-day international criminal courts and tribunals.

The first ever use of simultaneous interpretation equipment.

When: from May to November 2013

Where: Memorium Nuremberg Trials, Nuremberg, Germany

Info: http://www.memorium-nuremberg.de

by Luigi Luccarelli

Preparation is the invisible work that contributes to the success of meetings large and small ? and one of the main reasons why interpreters are so often heard but not really noticed.

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by Suzanne Kobine-Roy

In November 2012, some 90 representatives of civil society organisations met in Bangkok for a series of meetings organised by the International Budget Partnership (IBP)*. CIAP provided interpretation in English, French, Spanish and Russian for participants from Africa, Latin America and Central Asia.

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Half of the world’s estimated 6,000-plus languages will likely die out by the end of the century without urgent efforts to protect minority communities and their languages, a United Nations independent expert said in March 2013.

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by Manuel Pastor

There are two questions conference organisers often ask a consultant interpreter:

• Can I get local interpreters?
• What contingency measures have you taken to cover for unforeseen events?

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By Luigi Luccarelli

Professional interpreter, translator, editor and trainer Luigi Luccarelli explains how interpreters must be skillful in myriad ways to carry out the task before them.

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