Capacity Development for Translators/Interpreters in Timor-Leste in Support of a Multilingual Administration – Assessment and Strategy Mission

Post Title: International Expert in Translation & Interpreting Training
Duration: Up to 6 weeks
Duty Station: Dili, Timor-Leste
Expected Start date: September / October 2008
Project: Support to Civil Service Reform

Background

The linguistic development in Timor-Leste was strongly influenced by the historic experience of the young nation, whose Constitution recognizes Portuguese and Tetum as official languages, and Bahasa Indonesia and English as working languages. The Constitution defines Timor-Leste as a bi-lingual State and special requirements arise from this provision, including the publication of legislation in both official languages. The development of Tetum as a fully functional national official language is another requirement stemming from the Constitution.

Following the arrival of the international community in Timor-Leste in May 1999, there was an urgent need for interpreters and translators, compounded by the overall poor capacity of local human resources and the adoption of Tetum and Portuguese as official languages. Initially, local language assistants were recruited by the international community to enable basic communication between foreigners and Timorese. But the need for skilled translators and interpreters was soon deemed paramount to facilitate communication with the local communities, between the various State bodies as well as with the international community.

The need for improved skills was deemed particularly urgent in the justice sector. In collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, UNDP designed and implemented a Pilot Project for the justice sector aimed at creating a pool of skilled Timorese professionals, contributing to the development of Tetum as a full working language in the judiciary and setting professional standards for the two professions. As an outcome of the Pilot Project, a pool of trained translators and interpreters was established that currently provides translation and interpreting services to justice sector institutions.

Despite the outcome of the Pilot Project, the current numbers and quality of interpreters and translators in Public Administration, National Parliament and the Courts remain well below desired levels. Moreover, several audit and review missions (Pilot Project Assessment Mission, Justice Sector Mid-term Reviews and other external assessment reports) have stressed the urgent need for a much larger number of translators & interpreters and have recommended the development of Tetum and the production of materials in this language in various fields of endeavour.

Given the requests by different State institutions, UNDP considers that the time has come to revisit such recommendations and to build on the valuable lessons learned from previous experiences, particularly the Pilot Project, with a view to extending the concept to the entire public administration. In order to support the National Parliament, the civil service, and the justice sector, UNDP is planning a Mission to assess their needs and to formulate a project to train a new pool/pools of translators and interpreters that will provide assistance to these national institutions. Such Mission will be supported and undertaken in joint collaboration with the UNDP Civil Service project, the Parliament project and the Justice project.

The Mission

1. To contribute to an assessment of the existing situation of translation and interpreting in Timor-Leste.

2. To assess the needs of the National Parliament, Public Administration and Justice Sector, as regards human resources and the language combination requirements.

3. To design and propose a sustainable strategy to meet the translation and interpretation needs of Timor-Leste in the short-, medium- and long-term.

4. To design and propose a short-, medium- and long-term strategy to organize translation and interpreting services in a multilingual administration, parliament and judiciary based on the linguistic options enshrined in the Constitution, the National Development Plan and the National Institute of Linguistics's guidelines for the development of tetun ofisiál.

5. To detail the design of a project aimed at coordinating all actions concerning language mediation in the three sectors. In particular, to address short-, medium- and long-term requirements in these sectors, including recruitment of national and international translators, interpreters and trainers, organization of intensive training courses, training of national trainers and preparation of a future higher education course in translation and interpreting.

6. To assess the needs concerning the development of Tetum as a fully functional language and propose actions aimed at empowering and staffing the authority for the national languages.

Position Description

The Expert in Translation and/or Interpreting Training will be responsible for coordinating the Mission's work regarding training and capacity-building issues. He/she will be responsible for surveying existing initiatives in this field and proposing a short-, medium- and long-term strategy for developing translation/interpreting skills in Timor-Leste, including drafting curricula and setting goals and standards for future training courses. He/she will report directly to the Team Leader.

Note: The timing and duration of this consultancy will be determined by UNDP after consultation with the Team Leader.

Qualifications and Professional Experience

* Studies in translation and/or interpreting
* Certified translator and/or interpreter with minimum5 years of professional experience
* Experience as trainer of translators and/or interpreters
* Knowledge in evaluation of translators and/or interpreters criteria and methods
* Experience in curriculum design for translation and /or interpreting courses
* Experience in organisation of translation and/or interpreting courses
* Experience in capacity development projects in a developing country is an asset
Scope of Work

1. To contribute to a survey of the current situation of translation and interpretation of the National Parliament, Public Administration and Justice Sector as regards human resources and the language combination requirements against the backdrop of Timor-Leste's linguistic constitutional options.

2. To review past and existing language and translation & interpreting courses, their outcomes, etc. and to compare them with training courses elsewhere.

3. To assist in carrying out a survey on the translation and interpreting requirements/market to assess the recruitment of national and international of translators and interpreters to meet most pressing needs.

4. To take part in interviews with Ministries, relevant institutions and bodies of sovereignty as well as with international institutions currently operating in Timor to identify the current and predictable future language/staffing needs of the country.

5. To design a strategy aimed at coordinating all actions concerning language training and mediation in the three sectors. The design will address short-, medium- and long-term requirements in these sectors, including recruitment of national and international translators, interpreters and trainers, organization of intensive training courses, training of national trainers and preparation of a future higher education course in translation and interpreting.

6. To devise a strategy to attract candidates to the training courses on the short term;

7. To devise a strategy for the ongoing/further development of existing/future translation & interpreting skills in TL.

8. To review existing methods and criteria for the evaluation /certification of translators & interpreters and propose a model in line with internationally accepted standards

9. To contribute to an assessment of the current status of development of tetun ofisiál and the needs of the National Institute of Linguistics from a teaching/training viewpoint;

10.To assess the feasibility of considering other national languages in the future process and the corresponding training requirements

11. To contribute to the drafting of the Mission's report and recommendations.

12. To assist in the drafting of the project document based on the mission's deliverables

Language requirements

In addition to English, a thorough knowledge of Tetum and/or Portuguese is a requirement.
The knowledge of other national languages and/or Malay Indonesian would be an asset.

Supervision and Reporting

The Expert in Translation and Interpreter Training will report directly to the Team Leader.
Vacancies Contact
Please submit your applications together with your Curriculum Vitae (CV), financial proposal (proposed rate per day and other costs for carrying out this SSA consultancy assignment), contact of 3 referees and relevant supporting documents to the following address:
UNDP Timor-Leste
Procurement Unit
UN House, Caicoli Street
Dili, Timor-Leste
Email: luciano.freitas@undp.org
Website: http://www.undp.org.tl
The deadline for submitting applications is 3rd September 2008. Women candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Only short-listed candidates will be notified.