DANBURY, CT USA – 31 May 2018. In light of recent media reports of systemic failures to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse in the aid sector, Translators without Borders (TWB) is proud to have supported the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Task Team to help address the issue. TWB worked with the Task Team on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) to simplify the language of the six core principles and translate them into a multitude of languages – so that aid workers and people caught up in emergencies will know the rules that humanitarians must comply with. TWB is grateful for the language expertise of the team at iDisc for the translations into several Latin American languages. The full press release follows.
Preventing sexual exploitation and abuse in the humanitarian sector starts with ensuring everyone understands the basic principles. That means making the information available in simple terms and in local languages. The IASC Task Team on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Translators without Borders (TWB) have developed a plain-English version of the six principles. TWB is now translating it into 100 languages that humanitarian staff and affected people around the world will understand.
The Task Team, in collaboration with TWB, is delighted to publish a plain-language version of the principles on preventing sexual exploitation and abuse in the first 31 language versions. Other languages will follow in the coming weeks and months.
We encourage humanitarian organizations to share the document widely: post it in your offices and at community centers and refugee sites, email it to your colleagues in their languages. Let’s get the word out!
In the English-dominated humanitarian sector the benefit of a plain-language English version is twofold:
- It promotes understanding by non-native speakers of English, particularly those with limited English proficiency.
- It removes ambiguity and legal terminology, increasing the chances of an accurate translation into other languages.
IASC member organizations in the relevant countries are reviewing the completed translations. This is to ensure that the language used is both readily understood locally and seen as appropriate and inoffensive.
Many thanks to those organizations which have supported the validation process to date, including colleagues from: Amity Foundation, Care, Community World Service Asia, Croix-Rouge de Belgique, Croix-Rouge Malagasy, GOAL, International Rescue Committee, Lutheran World Relief, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam Intermón, Save the Children, Red Crescent of Uzbekistan, Sphere, Trócaire, UNHCR, UNICEF, and Women in the New Nigeria and Youth Empowerment Initiative (WINN).
TWB is sourcing translators, revisers, and validators for the remaining languages. Any organization interested in contributing to the translation and validation process should contact [email protected].
Update 31 May 2019: the translated principles can be viewed and downloaded here.
About Translators without Borders
Translators without Borders (TWB) envisions a world where knowledge knows no language barriers. The US-based non-profit provides people access to vital knowledge in their language by connecting non-profit organizations with a community of language professionals, building local language translation capacity, and raising awareness of language barriers. Originally founded in 1993 in France (as Traducteurs sans Frontières), TWB translates millions of words of life-saving and life-changing information a year. In 2013, TWB created the first-ever crisis relief translation service, Words of Relief, which has responded to crises every year since.
