As part of a Learning Exchange workshop organised by the Interpretation Section of the United Nations Office in Nairobi on 25 April 2025, two refugee graduates, Tolossa Asrat and Mateyos Bogale, of the University of Nairobi’s Community Interpreting Diploma, , offered under the AHEEN umbrella shared from their extensive experience as humanitarian interpreters working and training in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya.
Read how one of the refugee trainers reflected on this unique professional exchange:
“It was a privilege to serve as one of the co-facilitators during the UNON Learning Exchange session on Humanitarian Interpreting held last week, Friday, April 25, 2025, at the Two Rivers, Nairobi, Kenya.
The learning engagement was successful with participants actively engaging with key issues in humanitarian interpretation.Throughout the day, there were open discussions on context, actors and challenges.The participants demonstrated a high level of engagement and shared valuable perspectives from different professional experiences. This contributed to a richer understanding of the complexities of humanitarian interpretation work.
Role-playing sessions involving refugee scenarios gave conference interpreting participants a practical opportunity to translate theoretical discussions into real-life refugee/asylum seeker interpreting scenarios.
The final session, which focused on future collaboration and opportunities, underscored a collective commitment to ongoing professional development and cross-sector learning.
The Learning Exchange gave me the opportunity to reflect deeply on the urgent need for an institutional framework, in particular the importance of clear standards and legal recognition, especially in the humanitarian field, and the need for official guidelines on how humanitarian interpreters are recruited, trained and monitored in the context of displacement.
Beyond enhancing my technical competencies, this learning exchange has provided a critical space to evaluate both my personal development and confirmed the relevance of our two-year course at the University of Nairobi and ongoing specialization now at the Masters level.”
Both presenters are currently enrolled in MA degrees in interpreting at University of Nairobi and look forward to supporting communication in multilateral organisations on the continent.
