Review AI-Assisted Translations of UN ODET Websites
Organizational Context
The United Nations Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies (UN ODET), established in January 2025, advises senior leadership on technology trends, advocates for digital cooperation, and facilitates multi-stakeholder dialogue. It strengthens system-wide coordination and supports the Global Digital Compact. UN ODET also leads the implementation of the Secretary-General's vision on digital cooperation, working with UN entities and stakeholders to leverage technology's opportunities while mitigating risks for SDG progress. The office maintains websites on digital cooperation and AI governance.
Job Purpose
UN ODET is expanding its multilingual web content to enhance global accessibility of information on digital cooperation and AI governance. This initiative involves translating website content into all six official UN languages. To support this, UN ODET seeks five detail-oriented Online Volunteers. Each volunteer will focus on one language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) to review and refine AI-assisted translations. The primary goal is to ensure these translations are accurate, natural-sounding, and suitable for publication, thereby improving the reach and clarity of UN ODET's digital resources for a wider international audience.
Responsibilities
Under the guidance of the Communications Manager, Online Volunteers will review AI-assisted translations from English into their assigned target language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish). Key duties include refining translations of selected webpages for accuracy, clarity, readability, and completeness against the original English content. Volunteers must ensure adherence to established United Nations terminology, editorial standards, and language conventions, cross-referencing official UN terminology and documents for consistency. This involves consulting UNTERM and other authoritative resources for technical, institutional, and policy-related terms. Volunteers will also review headings, navigation labels, and other website text for consistency and completeness, flagging ambiguous source wording or translation discrepancies. A brief record of significant terminology decisions and outstanding questions is required. The expected output is a consolidated, publication-ready set of reviewed translations for approximately 25-30 priority webpages or equivalent content over a 12-week period.
Work Experience
Required experience includes excellent written proficiency in at least one of the target languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) and strong English comprehension. Experience in translation, proofreading, editing, or multilingual content review is necessary. A strong understanding of grammar, terminology, and editorial consistency, with excellent attention to detail, is crucial. The ability to research and verify terminology using authoritative sources and to review content for accuracy, consistency, clarity, and readability is also required.
Skills
Key skills include translation, interpretation, writing, editing, and proofreading. Strong communication and advocacy abilities are valuable. Volunteers should possess excellent attention to detail, the ability to research and verify terminology using authoritative sources, and the capacity to review content for accuracy, consistency, clarity, and readability. Familiarity with United Nations terminology, editorial conventions, AI-assisted translation tools, digital communications, or international policy communications is considered an asset.