Translation at the United Nations  

 “Translators are the learned agents of cultural transmission who circulate information, knowledge and passions around the globe…”

                 Jean Delisle & Judith Woodsworth, ed., 

      Translators through History

United Nations documents are issued simultaneously in the six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Some core documents are also translated into German. To learn more about the German Translation Service, visit the following website.

This is made possible by United Nations translators, whose job is to render clearly and accurately the content of original texts into their main or “target” language, which is normally the language in which they did their higher education studies. United Nations translators provide terminologically precise translations and revisions of original texts. They seek consistency throughout a single document, series of documents and multi-part special editions. It is important to be able to get an overview but it is no less important to do a microscopic reading, often under very tight time constraints. Failure to grasp the meaning of even one preposition could lead to a terrible mistake. The quest to find an accurate equivalent in a target language takes United Nations translators through standard bilingual dictionaries, comprehensive monolingual dictionaries, highly specialized dictionaries, subject glossaries prepared by the Terminology and Reference Section, previous United Nations documents, reference works, and the Internet, which, along with a broad variety of electronic tools, has become a vitally important part of their work. All this research is supplemented by consultations with fellow translators and other experts at the United Nations and with the Permanent Missions of United Nations Member States.

United Nations translators are recruited through a rigorous selection process. They translate and revise a wide range of United Nations documents on subjects that require experience and recognized proficiency in such areas of expertise as political, economic, financial, budgetary, administrative and other matters. That is why, in addition to having an in-depth knowledge of several official languages, many translators are also able to master specialized legal, scientific or technical vocabularies and styles. They have excellent writing skills, political sensitivity and a good knowledge of international affairs.