Interpreting on the world stage

Situation
International events don't stand still, and Governments must be able to respond quickly to them. In 2010, the UK hosted two world-stage conferences to discuss Afghanistan and the situation in Yemen. The first, co-hosted, by the former Prime Minister, the President of Afghanistan and the United Nations Secretary-General, discussed amongst other things, support to train up local police and army forces as part of a plan for the phased transition of security in Afghanistan.  

Taking the opportunity of the presence of key leaders in London, another rapidly arranged meeting chaired by the former Foreign Secretary and attended by the US Secretary of State, was called to discuss how to counter radicalisation in Yemen, following the failed bomb plot on a US-bound flight on Christmas Day in 2009.   

Solution
The FCO called on FCO Services Interpreting Services at short notice to provide simultaneous translation of the highest standard, in five languages, Dari, Pashto, Arabic, French and Russian for the Afghanistan Conference and in seven languages, French, Italian, Spanish , Arabic, German, Japanese and Russian for the Yemen Meeting. 

Impact
In sensitive diplomatic situations, accurate interpretation is vital. Our interpreters were able to provide simultaneous translation to senior global leaders, at the highest possible standards. We were able to act rapidly at very short notice to put together a team of skilled interpreters, our managers worked closely with the FCO Protocol teams on their requirements to ensure we were able to meet their needs.