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THE BRIDGE ISSUE

JUNE2017

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Institutional Reforms

in Perspective

The Narrative of an IcT Miracle

DCMP End-of-Year

Ceremony

HERALDING THE NEW AU COMMISSION

HARNESSING AFRICA’S DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND

LANGUAGE AND translation

Proofreading and digitalization

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CONTENT

HARNESSING AFRICA’S DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND

p8

HERALDING THE NEW AU COMMISSIONp6

DCMP End-of-Year

Ceremony

p10 DCMP STATISTICSp23

contents

p20AU Terminology

and Text Alignment

Change at the helm of the Addis-based African Union Commission (AUC).

December29, 2016 will go down as a special red-let-ter day in the annals of the trailblazer Directorate of Conference Management and

Publications (DCMP) for short.

p16The Narrative of an IT Miracle

People ask what exactly you do when you tell them you are a Proofreader.

LANGUAGE AND p18To learn to think more clearly, to speak and write more effectively and to listen and read with great-er understanding – these

have been the goals of the study of language since the dawn of man’s consciousness.

Like any other forward-looking and fast growing regional or international institution, our Continental body, the African Union has since the era of the Organization of the African Unity gone

through a series of institutional reforms the latest being the current reform by H.E. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda.

Africa’s demography shows that the greater part of its popula-tion is young,

It has now been virtually 7 odd years since the DCMP modernization journey began. It is therefore in order for us to take a quick stock of the

process.

Institutional Reforms in Perspective p4

Terminology is a set of definitions and designa-tions belonging to a given language. It is related to the collection and process-

ing of structures.

Proofreading and digitalizationp15

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Like any other forward-looking and fast growing regional or interna-tional institution, our Continental body, the African Union

has since the era of the Organi-zation of the African Unity gone through a series of institutional reforms the latest being the current reform by H.E. Paul Kag-ame, President of the Republic of Rwanda.

This reform was preceded by the audit exercise commissioned in 2007 by the High Level Panel on the Audit of the Union under the Chairmanship of Professor Adebayo Adedeje, former Ex-ecutive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

That Report which represents an analytical scrutiny of the Union’s state-of-play then was both com-

prehensive and business-like. For some reasons however, it seems that the said Report was only partially implemented. No wonder therefore that, our leaders felt the need to revisit the unfinished reform business. It was against this background that our leaders deemed it appropriate this time to have things done at their own level so as to give the outcome of the whole exercise more weight and credence. Accordingly, during the 2016 Kigali Summit, they assigned the task of doing so to President Kagame of Rwanda who is renowned for his knack to turn things around as evidenced by the success story encapsulat-ed in the rapid transformation of Rwanda into one of the fastest growing nation states in the continent. Having thoroughly deliberated on the issue under the caption “The Imperative to Strengthen our Union: Proposed Institutional Transformation of

the African Union”, they resolved that it should be a surgical oper-ation which must be performed in a manner that enables the Organization’s governance structure to respond with maxi-mum impact to the multifarious challenges facing the African continent. Great premium was also placed on Africa’s region-al and continental integration agenda and the developmental vision and priorities articulated in AU Agenda 2063 as well as peace and security. The role of individual Regional Economic Communities in this process and the need for a clear division of labour between them was equal-ly emphasised.

Rising to this daunting chal-lenge, President Kagame wasted no time in putting up his high level team of experts who in record time were able to come up with a report on their excellent study. No sooner had

President Kagame submitted this lucid report to his peers than it became the subject of an animated debate in the Second Retreat of the Heads of State and Government at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa on 29 January 2017.

The five priority areas of the landmark reforms they rec-ommended were as follows:

• Focus on key priori-ties with continental scope;• Realign African Union institutions in order to deliver against those priori-ties; • Connect the African Union to its citizens;• Manage the busi-ness of the African Union efficiently and effectively at both the political and opera-tional levels;• Finance the African Union sustainably and with the full ownership of the Member States.

Institutional Reforms in Perspective

Mrs. Khellaf Nedjat, Director of DCMP

THE BRIDGE

In the relevant decision on the outcome of the Retreat, comments and observa-tions made by Member States were taken into account as the way forward with special emphasis on the African values of unity, integration, solidarity, free-dom and equality as well as the vision of our founders on the political and the economic union of the continent. Annex I of the said decision has captured the reform measures that need to be put in place. However, both space and time would not allow us to go into those details in this Page. Nonetheless, it can-not be gainsaid that if fully implemented, the positive conclusions arrived at in the process would certain-ly go a long way towards strengthening and improv-ing the way this Organisa-tion does business.

Almost concurrent with the inauguration of the New Commission, the adoption of both the Decision and the Annex bodes well for the Organisation, and our take is that their implemen-tation will turn the African Union around and make it more functional and relevant to the needs and aspirations of the peoples of this continent. Cutting the corners alongside the lines prescribed in the recommendations will also make the Commission more manageable and more result-oriented. Con-sequently, the onus is now squarely on the Commis-sion to move this agenda forward, making sure that all the details required for the implementation of the contents of the two above mentioned documents is done in the most stringent and expeditious manner

so as to usher in an era of excellence and more effi-cient delivery at all levels. To do so, requires that the following two important implementing outfits are put in place:

• A high-level Panel of Heads of State and Gov-ernment body to oversee the process;• A reform imple-mentation and change unit within the Office of the Chairperson of the AU Commission to drive the day-to-day implementation of the time bound reforms.

With the kind of sterling determination so far demonstrated by both Member States and the Commission, we are confident of the successful discharge of this mammoth mission to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

Director’s page

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HERALDING THE NEW AU COMMISSION

Change at the helm of the Addis-based African Union Com-mission (AUC).

From January, 2017, what has come to be known as the “Faki Commission” took over the “Zuma Commission.”

Chairperson Moussa Faki Maha-mat and his team were sworn into office on 30th January 2017 in the wake of the elections. The inaugu-ration ushered in a new era. By 15th March 2017, the New Com-mission was up and running.

The new team is bubbling with plenty of enthusiasm, planning not to do business as usual but to be rather innovative. The challenges it inherited and must grapple with are too many, varied and formi-dable in nature. Some of them go back decades as previous Commissions could not address them fully despite all their efforts and good will.

Little wonder then, that the new

Commission is speaking an “innovative language”. Tackling the issues from a different per-spective, might just be what the Continent needs. Breaking away from the beaten path of resolving some of the age-long problems might prove more fruitful, after all nothing ventured, nothing gained!

The challenges facing the conti-nent range from migration, youth unemployment, abject poverty, conflicts …., you name it, you find it in Africa. Sadly, the prob-lems are all interconnected. Due to joblessness, poverty remains widespread on the continent and that is partly the reason why thousands of African youths are making the treacherous journey to Europe through the Mediter-ranean almost on a daily basis; migrating to their own death, one would say. For the most part, those young people cannot afford to pay their way to Europe, hence they are sometimes drafted into rebel groups for example, to raise the fee to pay human smugglers. In the process, they get involved

in the trafficking of small arms and light weapons which they can easily dispose of, on the black market for next to nothing. The cheap arms sold off to unscrupulous deal-ers ultimately fall into the wrong hands which help in stoking the embers of conflicts and sustaining the spiral of never ending crimes and insecurity in Africa.

The Faki Commis-sion takes up the daunting task of addressing the litany of problems men-tioned above and many more.

Under the circumstanc-es, I doubt the members of the Faki Commission even enjoyed a honeymoon period ever since taking office in March 2017, particularly as their elections gave rise to a wave of enthusiasm, hope and great expec-tations among African citizens. Hardly had they settled in, in their respective offices than they buckled down to work.

What is expected of the new Commis-sion to deliver in the next four years is a tall order, to say the least. Hard to tell what magic wand Chairper-son Faki plans to use. For now, he seems to be keeping his cards close to his chest. Nonetheless, if what we have witnessed so far is anything to go by, there is plenty of goodwill and good faith among the Commission members. We do hope they keep the momentum in the event of course, they opt not to turn a blind eye to the pathetic realties on the ground or a deaf ear to the cries of pain and suffering of the African peoples. The world is looking up to them to pull the Continent out of the current doldrums.

Is the fulfilment of that assign-

EDITORIAL

Pamela Bhroom Youth, Editor in Chief

ment possible, or are our expectations too high? Let’s wait and see.

For now, we can only wish them the best in their uphill task and offer our help in any way we can.

Are you willing to lend a helping hand to the new Commission? After all, it is our Continent, our home. It is therefore our collective and shared responsibility to fix the leaky roofs and mend the cracked walls and floors of our home or whatever else we think might be broken and needs mending.

Remember, many hands make light work. Commission number 4, will need all the support and as-sistance it can drum up from fellow Africans if we hope to see the light at the end of the tunnel someday. Seem-ingly, the road to success is long, potholed and bumpy. But together we can change the fate of the Continent.

God bless Africa! THE BRIDGE

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Africa’s demography shows that the greater part of its population is young, meaning that youth

form the future of Africa. In some other areas of the world, the population is rather aging, with older people tending to be the majority. Africa is blessed in that its population is youthful, which tells us that Africa is still moving towards its full potential. Populations which are aging have passed the peak of their potential and are declining. In view of this youthful population which is the wealth, the hope and future of Africa, the AU Heads of State declared the theme of 2017 to be “Harness-ing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in Youth”. Africa’s youth are a dividend!

When a theme for the year

is declared, it is left for policy makers to see how best they can implement the theme in the design of their policies. In a continent of scarce employ-ment opportunities, like ours, a determined effort has to be made to give way to youth or create additional employment opportunities for them. Youth employment is a critical issue for the continent. It solves so many problems at the same time, ranging from crime, to social and political instability. It therefore helps very much when you have people who are thinking of how to solve these problems at the individual level, without waiting for the govern-ment or instructions from above to do so. And when we see the number of young Africans dying in the Mediterranean every day in search of employment oppor-tunities in Europe, we begin to

understand that no effort in this regard can be considered as too little. Employing one young African can be a life saver for that person and his entire family.

DCMP is tasked with managing Union conferences and meet-ings and frequently finds itself in need of extra staff to cope with the growing workload. These staff include translators, inter-preters, interpretation equip-ment technicians, translation assistants and other technical staff. This provides DCMP with the golden opportunity to invest in Africa’s youth. Youths have the major advan-tage that they are more willing and eager to learn; more ad-venturous; more daring; more energetic; more resourceful and above all, more adapted to the new Information and

Denis AtabongAg. Head of Translation Division

Communication Technologies (ICT), which are the corner stone of the modern world and of modern trans-lation tools as well. These are the qualities organisations look to harness when they think of employment.

Taking these factors into consid-eration, the Directorate of Confer-ence Management and Publications of the African Union Commission (DCMP) has undertaken a vigorous campaign of renewing its blood through employment of the younger generation. The project started off with the establishment of rosters of translators and interpreters from all over the continent. And where it was noticed that the number of transla-tors/interpreters were insufficient, as for example in the Portuguese Language Unit, DCMP wrote directly to Portuguese Language Training Schools to source more applicants for translation and interpretation. The intention is to build a large database of all competent translators and interpreters on the continent so that DCMP can draw on them as need arises. Priority is not merely given to competent freelance staff but especially to the younger generation. A determined effort is underway to train and groom young men and women who would be tomorrow’s flag bearers of the Directorate. DCMP is determined to open and has in fact already opened the way for new and younger talent to get into the Directorate.

The phasing out of the older genera-tion is not without due consideration. As they retire, they are not aban-doned but put on the roster while regular positions are passed on to the younger generation. Recourse to the older generation can always be

made as cir-cumstanc-es dictate, but priority is definitely given to the younger generation.

In this endeavor, striking the right bal-ance between experience and youthful-ness is important, but DCMP’s philos-ophy is that age alone does not make competence and unless a translator or interpreter is absolutely unmanageable, DCMP believes that it can always train them to deliver to the very best of their ability and to satisfactory industry stan-dards. All it takes is commitment both on the part of DCMP and the staff con-cerned. On DCMP’s side, commitment is guaranteed.

In pursuing this agenda of training new arrivals, in-house courses have been designed on all aspects of word processing and constant update of computer skills; a terminology database has been created to enable new recruits to get used to in-house terminology; they are integrated into the conference web system which manages workflow; in short, everything is done to make their integration into DCMP as smooth as possible. Even in outsourcing trans-lations online, priority is still given to competent youth, in the hope of training

them to become profession-als in every sense of the word.

The rejuvenation going on at DCMP is especially a welcome development since the year 2017 has been de-clared as the year for Africa to focus on how to invest in its youth, which are its de-mographic dividend. Yearly themes are not just slogans to be chanted without actual-ly thinking about them in our day-to-day actions. DCMP has shown that something can be done, no matter how little, to implement the themes our Organization comes up with. One more youth employed is one step forward in benefiting from our youthful population, and in the process saving African lives and families.

THE BRIDGE

DCMP has undertaken a vigorous campaign of renewing its blood through employment of the younger generation

LEADS THE WAYAT THE AUCDCMP

HARNESSING AFRICA’S DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND:

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29 December 2016 will go down as a special red-letter day in the annals of the trailblazer Directorate of Confer-ence Management and Publications (DCMP) for short. By the sheer dint of its organizational skills, DCMP was able to marshal 19 AUC Departments, Divisions and Units into partaking in the End-of-Year Ceremony it organ-ised, which was billed as the first of its kind.

All the 19 AUC outfits were represented in this landmark ceremo-ny during which they were awarded either Certificate of Commendation or Note of Appreciation. In addition, and as charity always begins at home

as the old adage puts it, a total of 44 DCMP staff were equally awarded a Certificate of Com-mendation. Making the event even more auspicious was the fact that it was graced by the presence of none other than the Chief of Staff, the Secretary General to the Commission and the representative of the Bureau of the Deputy Chairper-son alongside 19 Directors and Heads of Division as well as other Departmental representa-tives.

That an occasion which was planned within a space of one week could be so impressively attended was another plus which earned DCMP the kind of applause and commendation that character-ised the ceremony. For that, credit naturally goes to staff under the creative leadership of their Director. What is more, the event was single-handedly sponsored by DCMP internally through voluntary contributions.

DCMP end year ceremony: cutting cake with different Departments in the Commission

DCMP End-of-Year Ceremony

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No wonder that the speakers paid glowing tribute to the Directorate, its leadership and staff for this trailblazing tradition introduced and which other Directorates/Departments were called upon to emulate.

Upon listening to the mel-ody of 2063 Agenda song delivered by the now well renowned AU Choir, the Director of DCMP, Madam Ned-jat Khellaf welcomed her audience and thanked them for honouring her invitation by their impressive turn out. She then proudly explained to them the purpose of the gathering which in her own words was “a new tradition of having an End-of-Year Get-together to enhance team spirit among ourselves and with sister AUC Directorates/Departments that have been closely working with us and whose support for, and cooperation with, us have been outstanding throughout the year”.

Her welcoming remarks were followed by inspiring and en-couraging statements by both the Chief of Staff and the representa-tive of the Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson, prior to the distribu-tion of certificates and gifts which

proved to be a gratifying moment for the awardees and their well-wishing colleagues.

However, the occasion was not only about speeches, certificates and gifts. Gourmandise and enter-tainment were very much part of the overall merry making. Refreshment having been served, it was all too nat-urally that this should be sequenced by an assortment of music reflective of the regional and sub-regional na-ture of our continental Organization.

THE BRIDGE

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Proofreading and

digitalizationKigenda SalimTranslation Assistant

People ask what exactly you do when you tell them you are a Proofreader. I re-

member during the Summit in Ghana in 2007, one of the Directors asked my fellow proofreaders and me the same question. Fortunately, the title evolved with the technological development and modernization of the Directorate of Conference Management and Publica-tions (DCMP). We no longer need to respond to that same question. Needless to say we were happy to have expounded on what we actually do.

As for our profession, proof-reading involves reading a text that has been translated from a source language to target language. As is the case, the English Unit translates documents from French or other languag-

es into English. The texts translated into English, are then proof read against the original documents (for example the documents drafted in French) to identify any errors relating to typing, grammar, syntax, and style or missing parts and call the attention of the translator or reviser for the errors to be corrected. That aside, proof readers also play a key role in compiling terminology.

With the advent of techno-logical advancement, some people argue that there is little need for proof-readers. I would like to argue other-wise, especially now with the emergence of the ma-chine translation, the human eye still needs to go through the contents of the text. For instance words such as:

English: advice /advise French: cour /court

En train / entrain Founda-tion (English) – Fondation / fond de teintPortuguese: Cabeças de Estado / Chefes de Esta-do [Heads of State…] Fita ver-melha / Burocrácia [Red-tape] To the machine these are proper words in their respective languages but as to the content of the text probably not! There is also the issue of syntax agree-ment/concord which ma-chine translation disregards most of the time.

I have also noticed that ev-ery year, the United Nations under the Language Com-petitive Examination (LCE) conducts exams. Apart from the interpreters, translators, editors, verbatim reporters, and précis-writers the UN

also conducts these exams for copy preparers/proof-readers/production editors.

It is worth mentioning that with the ongoing moderniza-tion within the Directorate, digitization of the workflow came into being, and with it proof readers evolved into Translation Assistants. Apart from the usual proof reading task, which is now done online. The terminol-ogy database build-up and text alignment as further explained in the article on AU Terminology and Text Alignment carried in this Publication, are now among the tasks of the Translation Assistants. The purpose is to finally have our own home-grown Computer Assisted Translation tool in order to assist translators to do their work in a more efficient manner and ensure good quality work.

THE BRIDGE

During the periode covered by this issue of our Publication, and to be more precise, in April 2017, a minor staff

mobility took place within the Coor-dination Unit of DCMP. Mr. Tariku Kebede who joined DCMP in 2011 as a Clerk has now been moved to the Office of the Legal Counsel and will report to the said Office on 2 May 2017. He was replaced by Mr.Seleshi Abraham from Infra-structure and Energy Department who will start working in DCMP on 3 May 2017. Similarly, Mr. Solomon Engedawork who joined DCMP last year as Mail Runner has been transferred to the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture. He was replaced by Mr. Dawit Getahun who used to be in the Office of the Deputy Chairperson. Mr. Dawit started work in DCMP on 3 April 2017.On the other hand, our colleague,Mr Moustapha Deme, , is also bracing himself for a well-deserved retirement after a protracted but productive length of service whithin DCMP as Arabic Translator. His career with the Organization dates back 2008 in a freelance capacity. He however became a regular staff member in August 2011 and he is now due retirement by 31st July 2017. We wish him all the best, confi-dent that he will continue to render invaluable service to DCMP and the Commission at large as well as the entire continent of Africa and by extension its peoples.

dcmp events/staff news

Mr. Tariku Kebede

Mr. Solomon Engedawork

Mr. Dawit Getahun

Mr.Seleshi Abraham

Mr Moustapha Deme

THE BRIDGE

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The Narrative of an IcT MiracleIt has now been virtually 7 odd years since the DCMP moderniza-tion journey began. It is therefore in order for us to take a quick stock of the process. The objective is to try to establish a link between the massive automation project which came into being with the launch of the now well-entrenched home-grown Conference-Web on 29 April 2010 and the series of inroads made in the recent past, expanding the frontiers of the IT revolution that has become the trademark of DCMP.

In this vein, it is worth recollecting that the first phase of modernizing the working methods and opera-tions of DCMP was characterized by the introduction of various workflow systems and modules that constituted the backbone of the Conf-Web itself. By way of refresh-ing our memories, it should be not-ed that the set of innovations that accompanied the process of putting the Conference-Web in place for document translation, interpretation and room booking, included the following:

•Compilation of all working documents and decisions in a dedicated database;•Archiving of documents on the website to facilitate their accessibility for the Member States and the entire Commission;•Archiving of Summit documents in all AU working languages con-taining all the OAU/AU decisions from 1963 to-date;•Equipping the Conference Complex with the right tools and technol-ogy and coaching both staff and delegates on their manipulation;•Automation of the Annual Calendar of Meetings through its inte-gration into the Conference-Web and making it accessible to the various stakeholders;•Provision of cost-effective services through proper conference pro-gramming, planning and management;•Installation of the information display screens at vantage points within the Complex premises to keep staff of the Commission and participants informed about the schedules of meetings, including those ongoing.

There is no doubt that managing and seeing through this first and crucial phase of the modernization drive required a great technological feat. But by having all professional hands on deck under the supervision of the visionary leadership of the Direc-torate, this task was carried out with a huge amount of zeal, determination and success. By working pari pasu with their counterparts in the MIS Division in particular, the DCMP’s team of IT experts have managed to make that miracle of a difference the dividends of which we all now enjoy Commission-wide.

BY MIS GassamaArabic Reviser

As the above-mentioned talented team was not in the habit of resting on their laurels or being complacent with what they had already achieved, embarking upon the second phase became a challenge which they rose to head on. The intro-duction of the E-Conferencing System veritably marked the beginning of this phase which equally witnessed the introduction of the following:

• Implementation of an electronic tool for Summit preparation and follow-up;• Accessibility of the Workflow System globally, enabling Embassies to receive documents from their offic-

es;• Installation of a networked digital recording system with a capacity of up to 8 interpretation channels. This

modern recording system makes it possible to record meeting proceedings and establish a digital audio archive system;

• Introduction of the Coloured Warning System in red and green through which delegates request speech time. The floor database screen has also been populated with the flags of Member States, titles of meet-ings, floor request lists etc. This service helps Member States to request for the floor electronically.

• This Coloured Warning System alerts delegates to the last minute of their speech time so that they are not taken by any surprise;

• Introduction of a document dispatcher for the interpreters to enable them prepare for meetings ahead of time;

• Establishing audio-video connectivity from the Mandela Hall to the Medium Hall and vice-versa whereby the image from one of the Halls could be displayed in the other. Combined, this has increased the number of participants to 3,250;

• Upgrading of the Power Point Presentation System to become more suitable for presenters from remote locations.

It is axiomatic that such a complete digitalization of DC-MP’s operations and creation of the concurrent paperless work environment could not have been so successfully carried out in the absence of the requisite wherewithal with the collaboration and assistance of some partners. Among those that were forthcoming in this regard was the World Bank which generously provided DCMP with funds to purchase the smart devices installed in all AUC meeting rooms.

Having said that, it is instruc-tive to now shed more light albeit briefly, on the problems encountered in ensuring the smooth functioning of the E-conference System due to weak and scrambled Wi-Fi signal. This was experienced during Summit Meetings held both here at the Headquar-ters and also later in Kigali. It was therefore felt that the ideal way out of this imbro-glio would be the wiring of all the halls in which smart devices are installed. If car-ried out, this wired E-confer-

encing System would yield for both the Commission and participants the following benefits:

• e-conferencing would be more stable and faster;• use of paper would be reduced dramatically;• the System would make it possible to send email through any domain, be it Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail etc.;• referencing doc-uments would be made easier;

• the System would be accessible through any smart device or normal lap-top.

In conclusion, the above represents some insight-ful snippets as to how the digitalization of the whole of DCMP has been so far fairing. It is however still work in progress and more innova-tions and breakthroughs are expected to come our way in the not too-distant future.

THE BRIDGE

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LANGUAGE AND TRANSLATION

To learn to think more clearly, to speak and write more effectively and to listen and read with greater understanding – these have been the goals of the study of language since the dawn of man’s consciousness. To be concerned with the relation between language and reality, between words and what they stand for in the writer’s or the speaker’s thoughts and emotions, is to approach the study of language as both an intellectual and moral discipline. According to Aldoux Huxley, “words are magical in the way they affect the minds of those who use them…Words have the power to mould men’s thinking, to canalize their feelings, to direct their willing and acting”

Considering the above from the point of view of translation, one could cite many examples to show that translation, while being a technique, is at the same time a work of art, a literary creation. Here is one such example from Mr Jaime Torres Bodet, one time Director General of UNESCO: “A translation is indeed a creative work…A perfect translation is, so to speak, an original piece of work, as has maintained many a great writer who did not feel he was belittling himself by engaging in such a difficult exercise… A translator therefore must first and foremost be a writer; there is no faithful translation from the stand-point of spirit and letter, that does not spring from a deep empathy, nay a deep communion with the author of the original…”

This empathy becomes more relevant when it comes to translating

literary works or poems. The mutual understanding between the author and the translator must be suffi-ciently strong to induce the latter not only to focus on the work at hand but also, and more importantly, to acquaint himself with other works published by the former in order to be able to capture the “technique” of his style, the fluidity of his thoughts, his peculiar way of looking at his characters, the landscapes, etc.

Also worth keeping in mind, as far as literary works are concerned, is the fact that words have affective connotations in addition to their informative value. This, incidentally, is the reason why literature is so difficult to translate from one language to another: a translation that follows informative connotations is more often than not likely to falsify the affective con-notations, and vice versa, so that readers who know both the source and target languages are almost sure to be dissatisfied, feeling either that the “spirit of the original has been sacri-ficed” or that the translation is “full of inaccuracies”.

It must be said, right from the outset, that this is a rel-atively new concept of the true role of the translator, and there exist many opin-ions expressed by great writers of old, which would radically contradict these views. In this connection, it is worth recalling an interesting dialogue which Montesquieu ascribed to his Persians. (it was an unexpected and impromptu encounter between a trans-lator and a surveyor) : “ …I have just put my Horace on the market…I have been in the translation job for the

Apprendre à penser plus clairement, à parler et écrire plus efficacement et à écouter et lire avec une meilleure com-préhension, tels ont été les buts de l’étude de la langue depuis l’aube des temps. Se préoccu-per du rapport entre la langue et la réalité, entre les mots et ce qu’ils représentent dans les pensées et les émo-tions de l’écrivain ou de l’orateur, c’est aborder l’étude de la langue en

past 20 years.” “What Sir”, replied the surveyor. “You mean you have not been thinking for twenty years? You speak for others, while they think for you?” The conversation went on on a rather sharp tone and Rica concluded thus: “… they parted company, I believe, very discontented with each other!”

Whatever Montesquieu’s view, translation is an aca-demic exercise that entails creativity. Far from being

an easy and mechanical task, it requires a constant effort of concentration and unrelenting perspicacity. To be a good translator, you have to be a great thinker, a great weigher, as testi-fied by Victor Hugo: “The translator”, he says, “is one who is perpetually weighing options. There is no scale more delicate than the one on which you weigh syn-onyms.”

LANGAGE ET TRADUCTION

tant que discipline intellectuelle et morale à la fois. Selon Aldoux Huxley, « les mots sont magiques car ils influent sur l’esprit de ceux qui les utilisent… Les mots ont le pouvoir de façonner la pensée des hommes, de canaliser leurs sentiments, d’orienter leur volonté et leurs actes ».

En examinant ce qui précède du point de vue de la traduction, l’on pourrait citer beaucoup d’exemples pour montrer que la traduction, tout en étant une technique, est en même temps une œuvre d’art, une création littéraire. Cette citation de M. Jaime Torres Bodet, ancien Directeur Général de l’UNESCO en est une illustration : «Une traduc-tion est une véritable création… La traduction la plus parfaite, tout en

“rendant” pour ainsi dire son modèle, accède elle-même au rang d’œuvre originale, comme l’ont déjà soutenu de grands écrivains qui n’ont pas cru se dégrader en se livrant à ce difficile exercice… Un traducteur, donc, doit avant tout être un écriv-ain; il n’est pas de traduc-tion fidèle qui ne le soit à l’esprit au moins autant qu’à la lettre, qui n’émane pas d’une compréhension profonde de l’auteur de l’original, je dirai même d’une communion avec lui… »

Cette empathie devient plus pertinente lorsqu’il est question de traduire des œuvres littéraires ou des poèmes. La com-préhension commune en-tre l’auteur et le traducteur doit être suffisamment forte pour amener celui-ci à se concentrer non seulement sur l’œuvre, mais, plus important encore, à se familiariser avec d’autres œuvres commises par l’auteur afin de pouvoir saisir la “technique” de son style, la fluidité de sa pensée, sa manière particulière de percevoir les personnag-es, les paysages, etc.

Il convient aussi de garder à l’esprit, s’agissant des créations littéraires, que les mots ont des conno-tations affectives, en plus de leur valeur informative. C’est, incidemment, la raison pour laquelle les œuvres littéraires sont tel-lement difficiles à traduire d’une langue à une autre : une traduction qui suit les connotations informatives est susceptible, la plupart du temps, de tronquer les connotations affectives, et vice-versa, de sorte que les lecteurs qui maîtrisent les langues de départ et d’arrivée, sont pratique-ment sûrs d’être déçus, estimant soit que « l’esprit de l’original a été sacrifié

», soit que la traduction est « pleine d’inexacti-tudes ».

D’emblée, il convient de dire qu’il s’agit là d’un concept relativement nouveau du véritable rôle du traducteur, et que beaucoup d’opin-ions exprimées par de grands écrivains de jadis pourraient radicalement contredire ces vues. A cet égard, il est utile de se rappeler le curieux di-alogue que Montesquieu relate dans ses ‘‘Lettres Persanes’’ (il s’agit d’une rencontre inopinée et même assez brusque entre un traducteur et un géomètre) : « Je viens de donner mon Horace au public… Il y a vingt ans que je m’occupe à faire des traductions ». « Quoi Monsieur », dit le géomètre. «Il y a vingt ans que vous ne pensez pas ? Vous parlez pour les autres, et ils pensent pour vous ? » La conversation prit une tournure plutôt vive et Rica de conclure : «ils se séparèrent, je crois, très mécontents l’un de l’autre ».

Quelle que soit l’opin-ion de Montesquieu, la traduction est un savant exercice qui implique la créativité. Loin d’être une tâche facile et mécanique, elle requiert un effort de concentration constant et une perspicacité sou-tenue. Un bon traduc-teur doit être un grand penseur, un grand peseur, comme l’a dit Victor Hugo : « Le traducteur», dit-il, « est un peseur perpétuel d’acceptions et d’équiv-alents. Pas de balance plus délicate que celle où l’on met en équilibre les synonymes».

TTRANSLATION By Ernest Victor Afagbegee, English Reviser

THE BRIDGE

20 21

Terminology is a set of defini-tions and designations be-longing to a given language. It is related to the collection and processing of structures.

DCMP has realised the need for the availability of bitext corpora for all the lan-guages. Hence the need to build its own terminology database to assist translation experts and further develop the trans-lation industry at the AUC. Therefore, a Task Force on Terminology was set up within the Directorate.

The Task Force charged with the building of the AUC terminology database is com-posed of the Team Leader, the Transla-tion Assistants of the four language Units (English, Arabic, French and Portuguese) as well as the Heads of each language Unit.

The AUC Terminology Database contains a compilation of the specific and technical terms of the Organization. It serves as a guide for translators and other experts in the field on how to deal with key ter-minology. It includes specific phrases, acronyms, names, titles and specific terms. The Terminology Database helps translators to save time by quickly finding the correct terms and speeds up the overall translation process. The Terminol-ogy Team seeks to give a standardized translation to key terms, guarantee con-sistency in all AU working languages and improve the overall translation quality.

Translation Assistants are assigned to compile terms in the four African Union working languages namely English,

Arabic, French and Portuguese. By doing so, they build a database of African Union terminology which will be integrated into the AU server then anyone can use the database. Translators will just check the meaning of a word and translate without any need to go to a reviser as it is done currently. This will speed up work and save time.

Terminology database building also in-volves alignment as a process that allows re-use of the already translated contents by creating a translation memory from existing translations, instead of starting from scratch. It allows the use of previ-ously translated material to save time and money on future translations and also to improve documentation consistency.

The process consists of going through the AUC documents and files and identifying key words that should be translated con-sistently in all documents and languages. Once these key terms are identified, the Translation Assistants choose the corre-sponding translations for them.

In conclusion, the work on the AUC Ter-minology data base is an ongoing task. It needs time and perseverance. The Terminology Task Force seeks to help translation experts use terms consistently and correctly for communicating effective-ly with AUC clients (Member states and others). The main objective is to ensure high quality content for AU working documents through standardization and consistency.

AU Terminology and

Text AlignmentTTRANSLATIONMs. Neema Saleh Hassen

The Terminology Team seeks to give a standardized

translation to key terms, guarantee

consistency in all AU working languages and

improve the overall translation quality.

’

‘Arabic Translation Assistant

22 23

Number of pages translated per language from 1st January to 6th June 2016

Arabic English French Portuguese Total

5118 852 6342 5178 17490

DCMP STATISTICS

Translation Statistics from 1st January to 6th June 2017

Department No. of Pages Translated

Office of the Secretary General to the Commission 3560

Department of Trade and Industry 2165

Department of Social Affairs 1887

Bureau of the Chairperson 1544

Directorate of Programming, Budgeting, Finance and Accounting

1511

Directorate of Strategic Policy Planning, Monitor-ing, Evaluation and Resource Mobilization

1369

Office of the Legal Counsel 1197

Department of Political Affairs 866

Department of Economic Affairs 602

Directorate of Administration and Human Re-source Development

523

Directorate of Women, Gender and Development 446

Department of Peace and Security 406

Department of Infrastructure and Energy 394

Department of Human Resources, Science & Technology

308

Directorate of CIDO 242

Office of the Internal Audit 227

Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture 184

Directorate of Conference Management and Publications

67

Bureau of The Deputy Chairperson 66

Directorate of Information and Communication 23

Protocol Servises 1

Total 11,468

MEETINGS FROM JANUARY - APRIL 2017

Months Meetings held with

Interpretation

Meetings held outside

headquarters with

interpretation

Meetings held without

Interpretation

Rental For

Meetings

Number of Meetings

Postponed

Number of Meetings Cancelled

January 46 0 42 1 1 1

February 23 9 94 0 2 1

March 50 7 118 5 2 1

April 41 5 109 3 1 1

TOTAL 160 21 363 9 6 4

Number of Sentences Aligned up to March 2017 and Terms under Compilation, and those

Approved To-date

Language Sentence Alignment

Under Compilation

Approved

English 237543 763 110

French 237543 763 549

Arabic 12604 763 368

Portuguese 8013 763 502

A former secretary of commerce liked to tell how a high ranking official once responded to a subordinate’s request for a raise by saying, “Because of the fluctuational predisposition of your position’s productive capacity as juxtaposed to governmental statistics, it would be momentarily injudicious to advocate an incremental increase.”The staff person said, “I don’t get it.”The official said, “That’s right.”

2. About freelancers... How does a freelancer define “weekend”?Two working days till Monday.

3. “I’ve just had the most awful time,” said a boy to his friends. “First I got angina pectoris, then arteriosclerosis. Just as I was recovering, I got psoriasis. They gave me hypodermics, and to top it all, tonsillitis was fol-lowed by appendectomy.”“Wow! How did you pull through?” sympathized his friends.“I don’t know,” the boy replied. “Toughest spelling test I ever had.”

4. A mouse is in his mouse hole and he wants to go out to get something to eat, but he’s afraid there might be a big cat outside, so he puts his ear by the opening and all he hears is “Bow Wow” so he thinks, “Well, there can’t be a cat out there because there’s a big old dog”, so he goes out of his mouse hole and is promptly caught and eaten by a cat, who licks his lips and says “It’s good to be bilingual !!”

5. Did you hear the one about the American businessman whose lame joke drew a hilarious response from his Japanese audience?The American, curious why they liked the joke so much, later asked his official translator, who replied: “The joke was not appropriate, so I did not translate it. I simply said: ‘The gentleman has told a joke. Please laugh.’”…

just for laughs

24

DIRECTORATE OF CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT AND PUBLICATIONS (DCMP)

Publishing DirectorNedjat Khellaf, Director DCMP

Editor-in-ChiefPamela Youth

Editorial BoardAngela B. Udoh

MIS GassamaVictor Afagbegee

Walter C. NhumbuavaliGeorge Mefful

John Taku Alemanji

F o l l o w u s o n F a c e b o o k : w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m / A U C D C M P

Directorate of Conference Managment and Publications

Tel. 00251 115 517 700E-mail: DCMPDocumentation@africa-unon.org

M e m b e r s o f t h e E d i t o r i a l B o a r d

The BRIDGE is a Quarterly Newsletter published by

the Directorate of Conference Managment and Publications

of the African Union Commission.

Views expressed in this Newsletter do not necessarily reflect those of

the AUC

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