Ethics Training for Humanitarian Interpreters Working in Conflict and Post-Conflict Settings

Numerous interpreters work in conflict zones, not as military interpreters, but as civilians working for humanitarian organizations. These interpreters face complex ethical dilemmas in mediating encounters between aid workers and beneficiaries. In this paper, we describe some of these dilemmas, and the pedagogical tools we have developed in order to better equip humanitarian interpreters to solve them. Our approach relies on a hybrid set of ethical principles derived simultaneously from codes of ethics for interpreters and International Humanitarian Law. However, given the complexity of interactions in the humanitarian field, any training is itself subject to ethical challenges and constraints.