1. Department of Conferences and Meetings Management November 30, 2010/AGC Report on Language Services and Measures to Achieve Savings in the Provision of Conference Services for OAS Meetings

2. AG/RES. 1 (XL-E/10) III.A.12.a 12. Conference and meeting services a) To reiterate to the General Secretariat the need to expand its review of the Organizations interpretation and translation services to include the whole area of conferences and meetings services, and to present for consideration of the CAAP, progress reports on the current services and needs of the Department of Conferences and Meetings Management, including information on the most efficient and cost-effective means of delivering these services, at headquarters and away from headquarters, taking into consideration member states requirements and overall needs and limitations of the Organization in fulfilling its mandates. Mandate

3. Language Services Section DCMM Provides in-house translations of 45% of the documents requested by all the areas of the GS/OAS, giving priority to the PC and GA Coordinates outside translations of the remaining 55% Identifies the best translator for each document, based on his or her experience and specialty Reviews translations and/or original documents at the request of the areas Exercises quality control of all translations Tests translators before adding them to the roster of freelance translators Advises the delegations of the member states at Style Committee meetings Compiles and updates glossaries and style manuals in order to unify and preserve OAS vocabulary and style

4. Language Services Section DCMM Coordinates interpretation services for all GS/OAS meetings at and away from Headquarters Advices the areas on the most appropriate and efficient ways of hiring interpreters Identifies interpreters certified by professional associations in the member states Provides in-house interpretation services for: – Meetings of the Chair of the PC and regional coordinators – Meetings of a highly confidential nature – Missions of ministers and/or ambassadors – Ambassadors private and negotiation meetings – Private meetings of the SG and ASG

5. TRANSLATION

6. Translation flow chart

7. Translation statistics January – October 2010 *Equivalent to 25,320 source pages requested. The number of words delivered was higher (10,884,499) because the same source document is sometimes translated into more than one target language. MONTH SPANISHENGLISHFRENCHPORTUGUESE IN-HOUSEFREELANCERSIN-HOUSEFREELANCERSIN-HOUSEFREELANCERSIN-HOUSEFREELANCERS JANUARY20,77434,53295,422212,46062,84958,19437,86182,335 FEBRUARY36,07753,717158,284142,16486,276104,62020,863174,253 MARCH52,233160,153133,535528,616154,134131,519112,334169,270 APRIL60,81751,561186,962192,689259,864151,556157,756258,585 MAY97,28951,923579,901369,600832,795150,457473,984510,934 JUNE33,4954,561133,371366,861123,24911,04588,53544,698 JULY12,75517,10129,56085,48527,75317,84826,49812,125 AUGUST39,62356,28167,980311,30059,34398,60965,51498,925 SEPTEMBER44,08272,78792,814276,735110,51519,029100,14329,072 OCTOBER44,56663,07783,831645,13774,65354,83358,52873,034 TOTAL441,711565,6931,561,6603,131,0471,791,431797,7101,142,0161,453,231

8. Requests for translation MONTHREQUESTS JANUARY194 FEBRUARY230 MARCH416 APRIL423 MAY694 JUNE184 JULY133 AUGUST196 SEPTEMBER231 OCTOBER280 TOTAL2,981

9. In-house vs. freelancers translations TRANSLATIONSPANISH%SENGLISH%EFRENCH%FPORTUGUESE%P IN-HOUSE 441,71144%1,561,66033%1,791,43169%1,142,01644% FREELANCERS 565,69356%3,131,04767%797,71031%1,453,23156% 1,007,404 4,692,707 2,589,141 2,595,247

10. In-house translators by language English: 1 translator/reviewerSpanish: 1 translator/reviewer 1 translator Portuguese: 1 in-house translator/reviewerFrench: 3 translator/reviewers 1 translator/reviewer (CPR)

11. Translation requests by language

12. Translation requests by GS/OAS area

13. In-house translations = Savings for the area Total savings $879,293.72

14. INTERPRETATION

15. Interpretation flow chart

16. Meetings with interpretation (month) MONTHMEETINGS JANUARY25 FEBRUARY36 MARCH79 APRIL65 MAY78 JUNE16 JULY21 AUGUST11 SEPTEMBER60 OCTOBER45 TOTAL436

17. Meetings with interpretation (area)

18. Types of service used in CP/CEPCIDI

19. Types of interpretation services Languages spoken at the meeting (SOURCE) Number of interpreters TARGET languages English, Spanish, French, Portuguese (Full team) 8English, Spanish, French, Portuguese 4English, Spanish English, Spanish, French, Portuguese6English, Spanish, French/ Portuguese English, Spanish (Two-way) 2English, Spanish (Two-way) 3English, Spanish

20. Regional Program to Expand the Number of Interpreters and Translators Objective: To identify qualified translators and interpreters in the member states in order to reduce the cost of providing translation and interpretation services at meetings away from headquarters and to comply with requests by governments to hire local professionals.

21. Regional Program to Expand the Number of Interpreters and Translators Results: Peru PeruInterpreters, June 2009: 10 Brazil BrazilInterpreters, December 2009: 12 Colombia ColombiaInterpreters, July 2010: 7 Colombia ColombiaTranslators CITEL, November 2010: 5 Mexico MexicoTranslators and interpreters, November 2010: currently being evaluated Ecuador Ecuador Translators and interpreters, February 2011: currently being organized

22. Conference Services

26. Measures to enhance efficiency in the provision of conference services Green meetings Promotion of a Paper Light Policy, to reduce the use of paper by distributing documents electronically. Promotion of a Printing on Demand " policy and printing on both sides of the paper. Minimizing the quantity of participants supplies (notebooks, print-outs, pencils, folders, etc.) Use of biodegradable or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-approved materials.

27. Measures to enhance efficiency in the provision of conference services Green meetings Implementation of separate waste collection, recycling or re-use practices wherever meetings are held. Setting the air conditioning systems in meeting rooms at levels at which they consume as little energy as possible. Promoting the use of tools, such as social media (Twitter, Facebook, Youtube or RSS) to access meetings. Greater use of technology as a support tool (document links, websites for each meeting, laptops for each participant). Involve participants directly and promote their role as multipliers of this effort to generate greater environmental awareness.

28. Measures to enhance efficiency in the provision of conference services Videoconferences 2009 – 2010 Sir Arthur Lewis Multimedia Room Number of videoconferences Attendance at headquarters Estimated airfare savings Per diem savingsTotal savings (ROI) 200940 *319$ 90,700.00$ 114,624.00$ 205,324.00 2010 50 **415$ 161,870.00$ 140,909.00$ 302,779.00 * Since April 2009, when the Sir Arthur Lewis Room was inaugurated. ** Until October 15, 2010. Note: The savings calculation is based on a conservative estimate of four airfares per videoconference and an estimated maximum of a three day stay per videoconference. When more than one country is involved, the calculation has been based on the country with the lowest costs.

29. DCMM budget allocations in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011

30. DCMM personnel in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 Professional staffGeneral Services staff Year D2D1P5P4P3P2P1Sub- Total G7G6G5G4G3G2G1Sub- Total 2008 11542 22 38101 2244 2009 11542 22 3891 2143 2010 113231 20 366 1535 2011 113221 19 366 1534

31. Measures to enhance efficiency in the provision of conference services New videoconferencing capacity in the Simón Bolívar Room Joint effort by DOITS and DCMM New capabilities include: Video / Teleconference (VTC) with capacity for up to 5 simultaneous connections Six cameras in the room Each delegate can speak from his/her own microphone Visualization of the other parties on all screens and monitors in the room IP (via Internet) and ISDN (via telephone line) connections Audio Teleconferencing (ATC) Control panels for video – teleconferences and local presentations Recording Local presentation capabilities

32. Proposals Update Resolution 872 : Update of the Costs of Conferences and Meetings Limit the number of pages per report: 15 -20 pages: A common practice in international organizations Translation costs: 10 pp. = 2,500 words = US$425 15 pp. = 3,750 words = US$637.50