CONFERENCE SERVICES SECTIONS

Translation and Editorial Section

Services provided

The Translation and Editorial Section (TES) provides the following services:

1) Translation and editing

The following types of text are translated and edited:

• Documents produced at the request and for the use of Governing Councils (in the case of UNEP and UN-Habitat) and intergovernmental bodies: pre-session, in-session, post-session documents, restricted documents such as conference room papers, miscellaneous documents such as vacancy announcements and meeting records.
  
• Publications: These include material outside the United Nations definition of the term, such as studies on specific UNEP or UN-Habitat related topics.
  

2) Provision of report writers and editors to service the following types of meetings:

• Regular and special sessions of the Gove rning Councils of UNEP and UN-Habitat.
  
• Regular and special sessions of convention bodies.
  
• Open-ended working group meetings of convention secretariats.
  
• Ad-hoc meetings of organs of either UNEP or UN-Habitat, as well as of other United Nations agencies.
  

3) Terminology and reference services

The Reference and Terminology Unit provides reference services and information on the United Nations and other bodies in all subject areas covered by UNEP,UN-Habitat, convention secretariats and other user entities to editors, translators and interpreters.

It monitors the documentation and other materials of UNEP, UN-Habitat, convention secretariats and other user entities in order to identify changes, developments,linguistic inconsistencies and variations in the areas of terminology used in the United Nations.

The unit also maintains a specialized referencelibrary consisting of documents emanating from DCS, Headquarters and other United Nations agencies, mainly in electronic format. It also maintains a specialized collection of dictionaries, glossaries and manuals.

In addition, the unit establishes and maintains contacts with reference and terminology sections at other duty stations and, where appropriate, with specialized agencies and international organizations in order to exchange information on terminology with a view to avoiding duplication and eliminating gaps.

Part of the unit's responsibility is to answer terminology queries from the governing bodies of UNEP and UN-Habitat, other departments at UNON, convention secretariats and other user entities. It also supervises the posting of pre-, in- and post-session meeting documents on the web, enabling a worldwide audience to access meeting documentation. Identifying documents for insertion into the Official Document System (ODS) is also one of its functions.

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Procedures

As stated above, all requests for work (translations, editing, report writing) as well as completed work must be channelled through DCU.

Once a job has been edited, DCU will forward it to the submitting office for clearance. Should the submitting office wish to make any changes of substance, they should be mutually agreed by the submitting office and TES before incorporation in the text.

	NB. As the official United Nations translation and editorial organ at UNON, TES has at its disposal a team of UN - accredited editors, translators and revisers, working both internally and externally. In order to maintain United Nations standards, therefore, it is highly re commended that all UNEP or UN-Habitat related agencies, departments and secretariats should submit any translation or editorial work to TES. In the event that TES is unable to undertake work submitted owing to lack of capacity, it will indicate this in writing so that the substantive office can have recourse to other service providers.

Deadlines for submission

In accordance with General Assembly resolution 34/50 of 23 November 1979, documentation for any United Nations meeting should be made available in all six official languages at least six weeks prior to the meeting.

At least 10 weeks before the opening of a session,all documents to which the six-week rule applies (i.e., all material to be translated) must already have been submitted to DCU.

At least eight weeks before the opening of a session, the department or office concerned must circulate, with the provisional agenda of the session, a report on the state of preparation of the necessary documentation in all required languages, with a full explanation of any delays.

At least four weeks before the opening of a session, all documents to which the sixweek rule does not apply must be submitted to DCU.

For purposes of the present rules,the date of submission of a document is that on which the complete and final text reaches DCU.

	NB. Pre-session and in-session documents take priority over all other documentation. In addition, because DCS provides services to many convention secretariats and other bodies, it has introduced a slotting system by which each client is allocated a period during which documentation for a particular meeting should be submitted. Any document submitted outside of that slot will not be given preferential treatment unless the client has given prior notification of the late submission to DCU.

Length of submissions

Reports of subsidiary organs or of expert groups or other reports not originating in United Nations bodies are to be as brief as possible and are not to exceed 10,700 words (around 20 physical pages).

Reports originating in United Nations bodies must not exceed 8,500 words (around 16 physical pages), in pursuance of General Assembly resolution 52/214 of 22 December 1997.

Quality of manuscripts submitted for processing

Manuscripts must always be typed on one side of the paper only.Handwritten texts will not be accepted.

Rates currently applicable (as from 1 April 2004)

For the full list of standard rates applicable to translation, revision and editing services, please contact DCU. Rates may vary (and may even be scaled down) depending on the complexity, urgency and volume of the work.

Contact persons

For any further information,please contact:

Mr. Steven A. Odera Acting Chief Translation and Editorial Section Block
R-129/131
Tel: (254 (0) 20) 623350
E-mail: steve.odera@unon.org

Ms. Gladys Nginga Documents Control Unit Block R-128
Tel: (254 (0) 20) 624018
E-mail: confserv@unon.org

Ms. Doris Zola Programming Assistant Translation and Editorial Section Block
R-135
Tel: (254 (0) 20) 623362
E-mail: doris.zola@unon.org

Ms. Rebecca Katumba Officer-in-Charge Terminology and Reference Unit Block
R-104
Tel: (254 (0) 20) 624049
E-mail: rebecca.katumba@unon.org