The United Nations (UN)’s International Translation Day (ITD) is annually observed across the globe on 30th September to honor the role of language professionals in connecting nations, promoting communication, understanding, cooperation, development, and global peace and security.
Exam Hints:
- Event: International Translation Day (ITD) 2025
- When? September 30, 2025
- Theme: “Celebrating Translation, Peace and Trust”
- First Observed By FIT: 1991
- UN First Observance: 2017
- Official UN Languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish
Theme:
The theme of ITD 2025 is “Celebrating Translation, Peace and Trust” highlights the role of translators, interpreters, and terminologists in fostering dialogue, trust, and peace.
Background:
First Observance: ITD was first celebrated in 1991 by the International Federation of Translators (FIT).
UN Recognition: On 24th May 2017, during its 71st session, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted resolution A/RES/71/288, officially declaring 30th September as ITD.
First UN Observance: The first UN-recognized ITD was observed on 30th September 2017.
Significance: September 30 is chosen to coincide with the feast of St. Jerome, the Bible translator and patron saint of translators.
About St. Jerome: He is a priest from North-Eastern Italy, renowned for translating most of the Bible into Latin from Greek manuscripts of the New Testament and also translated parts of the Hebrew Gospel into Greek.
- He passed away near Bethlehem in Palestine on 30th September around the year 420.
Translation at the UN:
UN as an Employer: The UN is one of the world’s largest employers of language professionals, with several hundred staff working across offices in New York, Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi, as well as at UN regional commissions in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, and Santiago.
Language Specialists: UN language specialists include Editorial and desktop publishing assistants; Editors; Interpreters; Précis-writers; Production editors and desktop publishers; Translators; and Verbatim reporters.
Multilingual Documentation: UN documents are issued simultaneously in the six official languages of the Organization: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Some core documents are also translated into German.
2025 Event:
Webinar and Panel Discussion: To commemorate International Translation Day 2025, FIT will organize a webinar on 29th September 2025.
- The event will feature a panel discussion on the vital role of translators, interpreters, and terminologists in building trust, ensuring reliable communication, and overseeing AI-generated text and machine translation.
ITD 2025 Poster: The FIT Council presented the ITD 2025 poster with the theme: “Translation, shaping a future you can trust”.
About International Federation of Translators (FIT):
President– Guillaume Deneufbourg
Secretary-General- Laurinda Cecilia Van Tonder
Headquarters– Paris, France
Established-1953
