Freelance Professional Translation Services

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women plays an innovative and catalytic role in the Senegal since its inception. UN Women West and Central Africa Regional Office conducts various events, workshops, conferences, and meetings as part of its programmatic intervention including development of technical documents, tools and communication material that require translation into French/English, English/French. To meet such needs, UN Women West & Central Africa Regional Office is interested to contract several professional translators and editors to provide UN Women with high quality French/English, English/French translation services when needed and requested by UN Women.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work closely with UN Women WCARO programmes and operations teams to provide:

Translation Services:

• Produce high-quality translation of documents from French/English, and English/French.
• Translating, editing and proofreading full content, footnotes and / or endnotes, captions under photographs, tables… etc.
• Ensure content accuracy and detailed comparison of content, facts and figures, making sure there are no discrepancies in the meaning of the source manuscript;
• Ensure that translations are written with style, correct grammar and spelling, including technical vocabulary, syntax, as well as use of formal gender sensitive terminology;
• Ensure confidentiality of the original texts and translated materials. The translation submitted to UN Women WCARO under each assignment is the property of UN Women WCARO and cannot be submitted, distributed or used by any other party, unless authorized. 
• Work in close collaboration with UN Women WCARO Requesting Manager, consult her or him when necessary and ensure the translation services are up to and the expected professional standards.
• Ensure high quality and accuracy of translations; ensuring that no errors are left in the final text; 
• Ensure final drafts are submitted ahead of time and revised as needed to incorporate suggested changes to meet UN Women expectations.
• Complete the work within the agreed timelines, submit the final translations in both soft and hard copy and be available to UN Women WCARO for comments and corrections.

Editing and proofreading:

• Provide high-quality substantive editing and proofreading of documents, both French and English.
• Conduct holistic substantive review of the manuscripts to correct grammar, check spelling, punctuation and delete redundancies, fix problem sentences, and sharpen vocabulary.
• Improve the overall clarity and organization of the text through re-arranging sentences and paragraphs, if needed, replacing inappropriate words and polishing the whole text.

Competencies

Competencies

Core values / Guiding principles:

Integrity:

• Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural Sensitivity / Valuing diversity:

• Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

• Creating synergies through self-control

Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning:

• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others.

Functional Competencies:

• Professional knowledge and expertise in translation, working with UN agencies or international organizations;
• Knowledge of gender and human rights terminology
• Knowledge of the UN terminology and key UN Women concepts.
• Understanding of the Bissau Guinean context and the work of UN Women in the State of Senegal is an added advantage
• Extensive experience and knowledge of the work of the national government and civil society organizations on human rights, women’s rights and gender issues in Senegal

Required Skills and Experience

• University degree in English & French translation, linguistics,, Literature or any other related field.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in provision of professional translation and editing services
• Previous expertise in translating, and editing gender, governance, human rights, poverty reduction, rule of law and development related documents etc. with human rights organizations, international organizations, research institutions for at least 2 years

Language:

• Excellent command of French and English.

How to apply:

Candidates interested in applying for this position should provide a CV in English providing full details on education, present and past employment/ jobs, language skills, professional translations skills, computer skills, etc.

Long listed candidates will be requested to translate a sample manuscript for assessment purposes; while those who are shortlisted will be requested to provide a financial offer and three references.