CAIRO - The United Nation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the American University in Cairo (AUC) covering co-operation in training candidates for competitive language examinations. This memorandum is part of the Outreach to Universities Programme, launched by the UN Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM) in 2007, which aims to better highlight language career opportunities at the UN. "Because many translators and interpreters working for the UN will be retiring, the DGACM started the Outreach to Universities Programme in 2007," the UN Undersecretary Shaaban Mohamed Shabaan told The Gazette in an interview on the sidelines of the signing ceremony, held in Cairo on Monday. "The UN wants to ensure that university students and graduates are well prepared for the exams, prior to joining the UN." Under this memorandum, the UN will provide the AUC with information about the requirements for its language posts, as well as guidance in the preparation of training materials, open language internships and other forms of placement for the most talented students and graduates. This is the 18th MoU that the UN has signed as part of its Outreach to Universities Programme and the third to be signed with a university in an Arab country. With this MoU entering into effect, AUC students and graduates will have the opportunity to qualify for the UN examinations, as well as having the chance to go on for a UN internship. "This is the 18th memorandum of understanding that we [the UN] have signed in the framework of this programme and it should be of great significance for Egyptians working in the UN," Shaaban, a former diplomat, said. He added that, in the 1980s, Egyptians accounted for around 95 per cent of the Arabic-language translators and interpreters working in the UN. "This percentage has fallen now to around 40 per cent," he said regrettably. "This could be attributed to the fall in the standards of Egyptian graduates." Last October, the UN signed the first two MoUs for Arabic language, the first with the University of Damascus of Syria and the second with Saint Joseph University of Lebanon. The memorandum will be effective for two years.
