Ashraf AboArafe
The Ministry of Culture, represented by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Authority, and the Arab Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), inaugurated the Arab Observatory for Translation, during a ceremony held by the Saudi National Committee for Education, Culture and Science on the occasion of hosting the meetings of the Executive Council and the General Conference of ALECSO in the period May 14-17 in the city of Jeddah, amid… Participation of representatives from Arab countries.
The observatory represents a qualitative leap in keeping pace with the translation movement and monitoring and analyzing its achievements into and out of the Arabic language, through a qualitative cultural project that serves more than 350 million speakers of the Arabic language, which ranks fifth in the world.
The CEO of the Literature, Publishing and Translation Authority, Dr. Muhammad Hassan Alwan, stressed that the launch of the Arab Observatory for Translation reflects the pioneering role played by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in joint Arab cultural work, by building bridges of communication and enriching cultural content in Arab societies.
He pointed out that the Observatory currently has a specialized digital platform that provides all its services to the translation community and translators in the Arab world, by providing a huge database of translated titles, announcing research grants, and building communication networks for translators and publishers in the Arab world, praising the efforts of the members of the founding committee and all employees of the Observatory.
The Observatory is the first regional body for ALECSO in the Kingdom and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries since the founding of the organization 54 years ago. It aims to collect and provide accurate and up-to-date statistical data on the reality of translation, support the establishment of a unified Arab plan for the translation movement, and contribute to the transfer and localization of knowledge to the Arab world, from By presenting data with an innovative approach that combines the latest technologies, it also provides a digital reference for transparency and credibility in displaying data, and contributes to reflecting the true cultural image of the Arab world.
By making available a bibliographic database of books translated and published in the Arab world, the Observatory works to complete annual statistical reports that allow building an accurate perception of the reality of translation at the Arab and international levels, which will lead to the development of the translation sector, which will also contribute to increasing regional and international cultural exchange, and the localization of knowledge in the world. Arabi.
The work of the Arab Translation Observatory is based on a number of strategies that stipulate that a reliable center represents the Arab voice of the translation sector and profession in international organizations and forums as it sets the recognized standards of monitoring and documentation, in addition to systematic monitoring and documentation, and supports the continuity of the translation profession through a group of ongoing work, services and initiatives in The field, as well as representing an accurate and reliable source of data and information related to the translation and publishing sector in the region.
To establish the center’s role in supporting the translation process and coordinating and unifying efforts, its founding committee includes a number of subcommittees specialized in translation studies and research, monitoring and documentation, and business development, in addition to the Supreme Scientific Committee. The committees contribute to developing legal frameworks and strategic plans, and evaluating areas of translation work from The Arabic language, in addition to developing publishing tools and research priorities, and attracting the best expertise to work with the Observatory in advancing the translation sector and increasing knowledge and cultural exchange.
The Arab Translation Observatory also includes three main projects: a monitoring and documentation project in the field of translation, a project to grant studies and research in the field of translation, in addition to a platform project that works to monitor and document translated books, and provide special guides for publishing houses and translators.
