Nominations for the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding (SHATIU) have now closed for 2018, but it has been revealed that the number of entrants this year has increased by 30%.
There were a total of 203 competitors taking part, from 32 different Arab and foreign countries.
The Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding was established in Doha, Qatar, in 2015, in recognition of today’s role of translation in promoting peace and spreading knowledge, and the contribution of translators in bringing cultures closer.
The official website of SHATIU states that “In a world torn apart by divisions, as we are witnessing today, the role of translation comes as a bridge of understanding between the peoples and as a means of cross-fertilization of cultures. The translator’s message in times of conflict becomes even more important”.
SHATIU has become a global award supervised by a Board of Trustees, a Steering Committee and independent judging panels, in which entrants compete for a total prize fund of two million (US$2,000,000) US Dollars, shared between three categories:
The First Category: Translation Prizes
Subdivided into the following:
Translation from Arabic into English
Translation from English into Arabic
Translation from Arabic into German
Translation from German into Arabic
The winner of the first prize in this category is awarded (US$100.000), the second (US$60.000) and the third (US$40.000).
The Second Category: Achievement Prizes
Awarded to translations from Arabic into the 5 languages selected annually, and from these languages into Arabic. The value of each one of these awards is maximum (US$100.000). The languages of the 2018 edition are: Italian, Russian, Japanese, Bosnian and Swahili.
The Third Category: Prize for International Understanding (US$200.000)
Awarded to individual(s) and/or institution(s) with substantive contribution to building a culture of peace and promoting international understanding.
The results from this year’s award will be announced on December 12th 2018, where participants from countries as diverse as Albania, Tanzania and Qatar will be in attendance.
This year there have been entries from five new languages; Italian, Russian, Japanese, Bosnian and Swahili.
The success of the awards looks set to continue in future years with the growth of the translation industry playing a large part in its success.
