Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
en service officiel dans le cadre de l\'exercice de leurs fonctions en Libye
English translation:
while performing their official duties related to their mission in Libya.
Added to glossary by
Jun Qin
Dec 15, 2021 01:19
2 yrs ago
23 viewers *
French term
en service officiel dans le cadre de l'exercice de leurs fonctions en Libye
French to English
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General terminology
Dear friends,
I came across an English translation from a French original, and the phrase in question caused confusion.
It was about a temporary relocation of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) from Libya to Tunisia, for which the mission requested the Tunisian government to:
"... permettre aux agents du Service de protection rapprochée de l'ONU de détenir et porter des armes et des munitions et porter des vêtements civils en service officiel dans le cadre de l'exercice de leurs fonctions en Libye."
I understand this means that they were requesting Tunisia to provide assistance while they were acting in an official capacity (in Tunisia, during this temporary relocation) as part of the performance of their functions in Libya.
However, the quoted part was translated into:
"... allow United Nations close protection officers to possess and carry firearms and ammunition and wear civilian clothes while performing their functions in Libya."
This translation reads as if they were asking Tunisia's assistance while they were working in Libya (rather than in Tunisia), which is quite illogical.
Do you share my confusion? If so, what should a better, idiomatic English translation be like for the phrase in question?
Thank you very much!
I came across an English translation from a French original, and the phrase in question caused confusion.
It was about a temporary relocation of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) from Libya to Tunisia, for which the mission requested the Tunisian government to:
"... permettre aux agents du Service de protection rapprochée de l'ONU de détenir et porter des armes et des munitions et porter des vêtements civils en service officiel dans le cadre de l'exercice de leurs fonctions en Libye."
I understand this means that they were requesting Tunisia to provide assistance while they were acting in an official capacity (in Tunisia, during this temporary relocation) as part of the performance of their functions in Libya.
However, the quoted part was translated into:
"... allow United Nations close protection officers to possess and carry firearms and ammunition and wear civilian clothes while performing their functions in Libya."
This translation reads as if they were asking Tunisia's assistance while they were working in Libya (rather than in Tunisia), which is quite illogical.
Do you share my confusion? If so, what should a better, idiomatic English translation be like for the phrase in question?
Thank you very much!
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 | while performing their official duties related to their mission in Libya. |
Daryo
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Dec 15, 2021 01:19: changed "Kudoz queue" from "In queue" to "Public"
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Dec 15, 2021 23:53: writeaway changed "Field (write-in)" from "General term" to "General terminology"
Proposed translations
10 days
Selected
while performing their official duties related to their mission in Libya.
"... permettre aux agents du Service de protection rapprochée de l'ONU de détenir et porter des armes et des munitions et porter des vêtements civils en service officiel dans le cadre de l'exercice de leurs fonctions en Libye."
"... allow United Nations close protection officers to possess and carry firearms and ammunition and wear civilian clothes while performing their official duties related to their mission in Libya."
IOW they can't walk around armed and undercover in Tunisia anywhere and anytime they want, but ONLY when providing close protection for UN officials whose mission is in Libya (and happened to be in Tunisia at the time).
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks!"
Discussion
CAN NOT be a typo.
These UN officials have been sent to Libya - their mandate/mission has to do with the situation in Libya.
The fact that they had to escape to safety to Tunisia doesn't change for a iota their mandate / mission - they are NOT suddenly mandated to intervene in Tunisia's problems.
"Rewriting the ST" according your non-understanding of the subject matter is really a good method ...
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=close protection licence uk
I guess the "while" part was a result of mixing the two of "en service officiel" and "dans le cadre de ...", since it does sound natural to translate the former into something like "while on official duty".
I was also told that "Libye" was not a typo here, and I guess that's because "dans le cadre de" just means "dans les limites de", and that the UN mission was indeed performing its duties within their mandate in Libya, although for that period of time on the territory of Tunisia.
However, this phrase is often misused or misunderstood to mean "à l’occasion de" or "lors de". I guess that's why it was (mis)transated into "while performing their functions in Libya"?
Another thing that is missing in the English translation is the name of the institution "Service de protection rapprochée", which was translated in general terms.