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Documentation Division

About us

The Documentation Division is responsible for producing the high-quality, multilingual parliamentary documentation required by the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and other entities of the United Nations. In this way it plays a key role in supporting the deliberations of the Member States and the work of the Organization. The Division comprises five translation services (one each for Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish), as well as an English Translation and Editorial Service. There is also a small German translation section funded by the German-speaking Member States.

 

Our work

  • Translators in the Documentation Division translate the full range of documentation into the six official languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). Some documents are also translated into German. Find out more about translation at the United Nations.
  • Editors in the Documentation Division ensure that the original language versions of United Nations documents conform to official standards and are presented in a consistent style. Find out more about editing at the United Nations.
  • Précis-writers in the Documentation Division take notes at the meetings of certain bodies and produce the official summary records of their proceedings in English. These are then translated into the other five official languages. Find out more about précis-writing at the United Nations.
  • Editorial and desktop publishing assistants prepare the final texts in the six official languages and upload them for electronic dissemination via the Official Document System. Find out more about editorial and desktop publishing at the United Nations.
  • All language staff in the Documentation Division contribute to the ongoing development and maintenance of the United Nations official terminology portal UNTERM.
  • The Documentation Division leads the development of several global projects, including gText, gDoc and Unite Conferences, and actively leverages language and other technologies to enhance its outputs and diversify the products and services that it offers. Find out more in innovation.