In May 2021, the World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development gathered the world’s education and sustainable development communities to grow awareness on sustainable development challenges. ‘Education for Sustainable Development for 2030’ is the global framework for “the development of the knowledge, skills, understanding, values, and actions required to create a sustainable world, which ensures environmental protection and conservation, promotes social equity and encourages economic sustainability.” To be effective, the conversation about sustainable development must include people from all over the globe, whatever language they speak.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently remarked that “We must act decisively to protect our planet from both the coronavirus and the existential threat of climate disruption.” So we are celebrating the efforts of translators who are informing their communities about the effects of climate change, and bringing more voices into the conversation.
We interviewed two translators whose work is raising awareness of climate change. Nan and Futu are improving lives in their communities in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and beyond.
Over one million Rohingya people have fled violence in Myanmar in recent decades, arriving in refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and its coastline is one of the most disaster-prone regions. Myanmar also is at severe threat of natural disasters and suffers from protracted humanitarian emergencies. The unmistakable threat of climate change pervades everyday life. These countries are some of the world’s most hard hit by the effects of the climate disaster. They are especially vulnerable to increased temperatures, cyclones, flooding, and landslides which further risk lives. When there’s little information available in your language, it becomes even harder to protect yourself from climate change and act to prevent it. These translators have worked on projects to help inform the Myanmar- and Bangla-speaking communities.
Nan, Myanmar translator:
- Fascinated by documentaries
- Interested in connecting with and learning from interesting people
- Loves stories, and collects classic books, and listens to literature talks
When she’s not reading or cooking a new recipe from Youtube, Nan works from her home in the northern Shan State of Myanmar. She volunteers for TWB projects on weekends and after work.
“I love how Myanmar has various ethnic groups and is rich with interesting cultures and traditions. The food is amazing, the nature is refreshing and our people have generous hearts. Even though I belong to one of the ethnic minority groups in Myanmar, Burmese is like my mother language. I love to learn about how the Burmese language developed and its very rich historical background.”Nan, Myanmar translator.
Futu, Bangla translator
- Stays up-to-date with global trends, human rights, and technological innovations
- Likes to read and explore the daydreams of writers
- Keeps busy with an energetic toddler at home
Futu enjoys working from his home office, situated near the enchanting lake of the Chittagong hills.
Do you see the effects of climate change?
“Yes, I’ve recently read about the drought in Pyin Oo Lwin on the news. It’s a serious issue because people in that neighborhood said they have never witnessed a drought before. Also in my hometown, even though spring has just arrived, some households have to buy water due to drought. And we couldn’t see sunlight for the past four or five days due to open agricultural burning and the sky is covered with haze.”Nan, Myanmar translator.
“I’m very concerned about the climate change in Myanmar. I wish we could build community-based initiatives to educate people about the effects of using plastic and burning waste and plastic in the neighborhood.”Nan, Myanmar translator.
Translators play an important role in sharing information about climate change to help people understand the effect and what actions they can take. Key information in the right language can also help people prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters. Nan explains that in her hometown, there are many ethnic groups who can’t speak or understand Burmese. She says it would help if the authorities could connect with local civil societies and try to translate key information into as many languages as possible.
Due to the geographic location, low elevation, floodplains, and population density, Bangladesh is similarly one of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It creates food insecurity, water shortages, and concerns over shelter. Environmental impacts create very real health and safety issues for local communities. This is why it’s vital to make facts available to people in the languages they can speak and understand. It’s important to enable two-way conversations and make local people’s voices heard. Futu believes that:
“The only way global society can truly benefit is from sharing climate change research and implementing solutions.”Futu, Rohingya translator, Bangladesh.
Nan and Futu worked on the Nature Now project in late 2019. It’s a video featuring climate activist Greta Thunberg and writer and climate activist George Monbiot. They explain that there is a natural solution to the climate breakdown: protecting forests. And they urge us to take simple actions which can have a great impact on our planet. The key message is to:
PROTECT: where nature is doing something vital, we must protect it.
RESTORE: help our environment where nature is trying to recover itself.
FUND: start funding initiatives that help our planet and stop funding entities that destroy our planet.
In this incredibly exciting project for the TWB community, we translated and revised the video into 33 languages. You can watch them here.
Nan says she is thrilled to have been a part of the movement by helping the climate solution message reach her community.
“It’s rare to see something like the Nature Now climate solutions film in the Rohingya language. It makes me feel as if I am campaigning to save the world from disasters when I work on these projects. It will be very good for the Rohingya community to benefit from more projects such as this in the future.”Futu, Rohingya translator, Bangladesh.
Do you have a passion for supporting communities around the globe? By sharing your language skills, you can involve more people in vital conversations about climate change and more. Invite your friends and networks to join the TWB community. Share this link to sign up: http://translatorswithoutborders.org/volunteer/translators
Written by Danielle Moore, Communications and Engagement Officer for TWB. With interview responses by Nan, Myanmar translator for TWB, and Futu, Bangla translator for TWB. To protect their identities, we have used pseudonyms in this piece.