Ellie Kemp
ABSTRACT
Language is a huge resource, but one to which the humanitarian sector has been largely blind. Communicating in the languages of crisis-affected people is essential to making humanitarian action more inclusive, effective, and accountable. Language technology can help achieve that by changing the communication power dynamic. When a humanitarian emergency happens, remote language support and language technology are critical to help affected people make themselves heard and get the information they need. What has Translators without Borders (TWB)1 learned so far from addressing language barriers in emergencies, and what needs to happen now?
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- Translators without Borders. 2019. Missing the mark? People in eastern DRC need information on Ebola in a language they understand. TWB Report. https://translatorswithoutborders.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/DRC_Ebola_Assessment_English.pdfGoogle Scholar
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- Tasci, Z. 2020. Creating Hope in Conflict: a Humanitarian Grand Challenge awards $7.8 million CAD for bold innovations to assist the hardest-to-reach conflict-affected communities. Humanitarian Grand Challenge. https://humanitariangrandchallenge.org/r2-announcement/Google Scholar
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