Migration and communication management: humanitarian vs. commercial logistics?

Abstract

Humanitarian action is often a multifaceted and multilingual endeavour in which miscommunication can have life-saving consequences. Humanitarian action is often a multilingual effort in which translation and interpreting between different languages and cultures can have life-saving consequences. Professional translators and interpreters (Tr&In) as well as multilingual staff from international, national or local organisations play a critical role in ensuring effective communication. The main objective of this article is to critically analyse the consideration of the performance of communication agents in multilingual environments in two fundamental elements in societies: official bodies (state administration) and civil society (NGOs) in order to find out if they go in the same direction or if there are differences between them in the consideration of the role(s) of language in situations of crisis and emergency for the construction of a more cosmopolitan and inclusive society.