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FIT has a number of active Standing Committees and Task Forces in the current mandate. Click on the committee name to reveal its current members. The list may also contain persons closely working with a committee whilst not formally being a member.

Note: * denotes the chair or co-chairs of the committee. ^ the FIT President is automatically a member of all Standing Committees and Task Forces.

Standing Committees

Association Development

Gretchen Gonzalez Nieto, Guillaume Deneufbourg, Eleanor Cornelius*, Annette Schiller, Niina Haapala-Livera, Roula Salam*, Alison Rodriguez^

Audiovisual Translation

Tiina Tuominen*, Elena Aleksandrova, Alison Rodriguez^

Awards Management

Gretchen Gonzalez Nieto, Eleanor Cornelius*, Maria Galan Barrera, Alison Rodriguez^

Babel

Editorial information is available on the Babel page.

Communications

Alexandra Jantscher, Viktorija Osolnik Kunc*, Dimitrios Moutafis, Tiina Tuominen, Alison Rodriguez^

Crisis Settings

Gretchen Gonzalez Nieto, Haidar Al-Sara, Annette Schiller*, Carmen Acosta Vicente, Roula Salam, Alison Rodriguez^

Education and Professional Development

Tiina Tuominen, Victoria Lei Cheng Lai, Guillaume Deneufbourg*, Viktorija Osolnik Kunc, Meritxell Serrano Tristán, Marsanne Neethling, Alejandra Jorge, Alison Rodriguez^

External Partnerships

Jørgen Christian Wind Nielsen*, Olga Egorovs, Alison Rodriguez^

Indigenous Languages

Tina Wellman, Peter Mekgwe, Alexander Polikarpov, Jubilee Chikasha, Maseforo Mathatho, Roula Salam*, Te Tumatakuru O`Connell*, Alison Rodriguez^

Interpreting

Heidi Cazes, Jonathan Downie, Marsanne Neethling, Victoria Lei Cheng Lai, Pablo Reyes*, Yinying Wang, Pia von Essen, Alison Rodriguez^

Investment and Budget

Gretchen Gonzalez Nieto, Ted Wozniak*, Alison Rodriguez^

Legal Translation

Carina Adriana Barres, Alexander Larin, Ludmila Stern, Mohammadreza Arbabi*, Claire Richardot, Maria Galan Barrera*, Viktorija Osolnik Kunc, Alison Rodriguez^

Procedural

Alexandra Jantscher-Karlhuber, Alison Rodriguez^

Solidarity Fund

Alexandra Jantscher, Jan Næss, Isabelle Poff Pencole*, Maria Galan Barrera, Alison Rodriguez^

Standards

Silvia Bacco, Viktorija Osolnik Kunc, Te Tumatakuru O`Connell, Alan Melby*, Ilya Mishchenko, Lidia Jeansalle, Alison Rodriguez^, Xuetao Zhang

Technology

Amina Tahraoui, Eleanor Cornelius, Huashu Wang, Alan Melby*, Alison Rodriguez^, Maarit Koponen

Translating for Publishing Houses and Copyright

Jan Næss, Gretchen Gonzalez Nieto, Marta Morros, Mateo Cardona Vallejo, Bianchinetta Benavides Segura, Carlos Mayor*, Mohammadreza Arbabi, Alison Rodriguez^

Translatio

Translatio issues are available for download from the Translatio page.

Alejandra Jorge, Maria Galan Barrera, Ben Karl*, Junhuan Liu, Anne Marais, Sandra Mouton, Marita Propato, Isabel Sacco, Paola Andrea Sosa, Alison Rodriguez^, Jaroslav Soltys

Task Forces

Research

Tiina Tuominen, Victoria Lei Cheng Lai, Silvia Bacco, Pascale Elbaz*, Alejandra Jantscher-Karlhuber, Isabelle Poff-Pencole, Alison Rodriguez^

By-Laws

As amended in May 2022: English | français | español

Rules of Procedure

As amended in May 2022: English | français | español

Handbook for FIT Standing Committees and Task Forces

In force for the 2022-2025 mandate: English | français | español

Governing Bodies

FIT’s supreme body is the statutory congress, which is held every three years. It brings together delegations from the member associations, and it elects the Council, which in turn elects its Executive Committee and directs FIT until the next world congress. The governing bodies are supported by different committees, which report to the Council annually about their activities, and to the congress. The statutory congress is followed by an open congress, which is an outstanding platform for exchanges among all professionals in the profession.

Committees and Task Forces

The Federation, through its committees and task forces, undertakes to meet the various expectations of its members by addressing matters of training, conditions of work, the various aspects of the profession, and the categories of translators, interpreters and terminologists. To take part in the work of one of them is an individual contribution to the profession as a whole.

Secretariat

FIT has a part-time secretariat. The secretariat is the anchor for FIT’s membership administration and activities. The secretariat works closely with the EC and Council and relevant task forces.

Regional Centres

Five regional centres are currently active: FIT Europe, FIT Latin America, FIT North America, FIT Africa and FIT Asia. These centres foster the activities of FIT in their regions, organising meetings to strengthen exchanges between member associations on any questions concerning the profession, and liaising with the FIT Council.

What is FIT?

FIT is the federation of translator associations and not a translation agency. It has no positions or internships to offer and cannot give any recommendation. See the “About us” page for more information.

Can individual translators belong to FIT?

FIT is the federation of translators associations. Individuals can join FIT indirectly as member of one of the member associations in their home countries. By virtue of belonging to a FIT member association, individuals are entitled to participate in any activity of FIT and its national member associations.

Does FIT suggest rates for translation or interpreting?

As different rates apply in different countries, please contact national associations for further information. FIT occasionally conducts surveys or publishes the results of surveys conducted by member associations.

Does FIT have an accreditation system?

Accreditation is a national issue. Please refer to national organisation for further details.

1953

Creation of the Fédération internationale des traducteurs – International Federation of Translators (FIT) in Paris under the auspices of UNESCO. The founder members – six national associations of translators and interpreters – represented Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, the Federal Republic of Germany and Turkey.

1954

I^st FIT World Congress (Paris, 18–22 December).
Theme: Drafting an Activity Plan.

1955

Foundation of BABEL, International Journal of Translation (quarterly journal devoted to information and research in the field of translation), with the assistance of UNESCO.

1956

II^nd FIT World Congress (Rome, 27 February–3 March).
Themes: Intellectual property rights of the translator and International co-operation in the field of terminology.

International Round Table of translators from countries in Asia and the Middle East (New Delhi, 21–21 November).

Adoption of an international recommendation to promote translation and the professional status of translators in Asia.

1958

Round Table on issues of the training and qualifying of translators (Luxembourg, 30–31 May) in collaboration with the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community.

Adoption of recommendation to encourage working together in the area of training translators and terminology research.

International Round Table of Translators (Warsaw, 2–8 July).

1959

III^rd FIT World Congress (Bad Godesberg, 27 July–1 August).
Theme: Quality in Translation..

1963

IV^th FIT World Congress (Dubrovnik, 31 August to 7 September).
Themes: Tenth anniversary of FIT – Continued Co-operation with UNESCO.

Recommendation relating to the training of translators and drafting criteria affirming, internationally and nationally, the qualities required to be able to effectively fulfil the task of specialised translator.

Adoption of the Translator’s Charter setting forth general guidelines and recommendations in the area of the translator’s rights and obligations.

1966

V^th FIT World Congress (Lahti, Finland, 7–13 August).
Themes: Recommendations on literary translation, qualification criteria to promote translator training on terminology research and documentation and on the intellectual property rights of the translator.

Establishment of Task Forces.

1969

Foundation of the Nathhorst Prize (literary translation and scientific and technical translation) under the auspices of the Carl Bertil Nathhorst Foundation for Science and Public Utility (Sweden).

1970

VI^th FIT World Congress (Stuttgart, 27–31 July).

UNESCO recognises FIT as a category A non-governmental organisation, which ensures that FIT will be consulted on any issue relating to translation discussed by the UNESCO authorities.

1974

VII^th FIT World Congress (Nice, France, 9–13 May).
Theme: Translation, Connecting Nations.

1976

Adoption of the international recommendation on “THE LEGAL PROTECTION OF TRANSLATORS AND TRANSLATIONS AND ON THE PRACTICAL MEANS TO IMPROVE THE STATUS OF TRANSLATORS”, on the occasion of the UNESCO General Conference (Nairobi, 22 November), by 143 member countries of UNESCO.

1977

VIII^th FIT World Congress (Montreal, 12–13 May).
Theme: Translating – a Profession.

1978

Celebration of the 25^th Anniversary FIT in Paris.

1979

FIT–UNESCO international colloquium (Sofia, 16–18 October) on Translation and International Cultural Co-operation.

1980

Foundation of the Astrid Lindgren Prize for translation of books for children and young people.

Creation of the FIT commemorative medal in memory of Pierre-François Caillé.

1981

IX^th FIT World Congress (Warsaw, 6–13 May).
Theme: The Mission of the Translator Today and Tomorrow.

1982

Round Table (Lomé, 25–27 October) on “Problems of Literary Translation in Africa”, with UNESCO support.

1983

Round Table (Paris, 17–19 March) on “Translation in the System of Foreign Language Training”, with the assistance of UNESCO.

Adoption of an international recommendation on the professional profile of translators and interpreters and guidelines on training and qualifying of translators and interpreters.

1984

X^th FIT World Congress (Vienna, 17–23 August).
Theme: Translators and their Position in Society.

1986

Round Table (Paris, 24–25 March) on “Literary Translation – Practice and Prospects”, with the assistance of UNESCO.

Founding of the FIT North American Regional Centre and First North American Translators’ Congress (Mexico, 25–28 March).

1987

Round Table (Frankfurt, 23–24 January) on the “Status and Profile of the Translator and Interpreter”, with UNESCO support.

XI^th FIT World Congress (Maastricht, 20–27 August).
Theme: Translation. Our Future.

1988

Round Table (Seoul, 28 August–2 September) on Literary Translation, with the assistance of PEN Club and UNESCO.

1989

Round Table (Tangiers, Morocco 1–3 June) on “Problems of Professional Translation in the Arab World and the Contribution of Technology”, with support from UNESCO and the École supérieure Roi Fahd de traduction.

Round Table (Dar es Salaam, 28–30 August) on “Problems of Translation in Africa”, with UNESCO support.

Second North American Translators’ Congress (Washington, 9–11 October).

1990

XII^th FIT World Congress (Belgrade, 2–9 August).
Theme: Translation, a Creative Profession.

Creation of prize for Best Periodical.

1991

Round Table (Moscow, 26–27 February) on “Literature and Translation, Theory Problems”, with the assistance of UNESCO and the Literary Council of the Writers’ union of the USSR.

Establishment of International Translation Day on 30 September.

Round Table (Buenos Aires, 1–2 November) on “Translation in Latin America”, with the assistance of ‘UNESCO and the Colegio de Traductores Públicos de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires.

1992

Third North American Translators’ Congress (Montreal, 27–29 May) on “Translating in North America – A Community of Interests”.

Round Table (Dobríš, Czechoslovakia, 25–27 September) on “Literary Translation and Copyright”, with the assistance of various member associations and UNESCO.

International Conference (Moscow, 1–3 October) on “General Theory and Teaching of Translation and Poetry Translation Theory”, with the assistance of Moscow Linguistics University.

1993

XIII^th FIT World Congress (Brighton, 6–13 August).
Theme: Translation – The Vital Link.

1995

Round Table (Strasbourg, 22–24 June) on “Audio Visual Communication and Language Transfer”, with the assistance of the Council of Europe and UNESCO.

1^st Asian Translation Forum (Beijing, 31 July–3 August).

1996

XIV^th FIT World Congress (Melbourne, 9–16 February).
Theme: New Horizons.

Fourth North American Regional Centre Congress (Colorado Springs, 27–29 October).

Foundation of the FIT Regional Centre Europe.

1998

2^nd Asian Translation Forum (Seoul, 31 July–3 August).

Fifth North American Regional Centre Congress (Ottawa, 27–29 September).

1999

XV^th FIT World Congress (Mons, 3–10 August).
Theme: Translation – Transition.

2001

3^rd Asian Translation Forum (Hong Kong, 4–8 December).

2002

Sixth International Forum on Legal Translation and Court Interpreting (Paris, 12–14 June).

XVI^th FIT World Congress (Vancouver, 3–10 August).
Theme: Translation: New Ideas for a New Century.

2003

Foundation of the FIT Regional Centre Latin America in Buenos Aires (2 May).

50^th Anniversary of FIT in UNESCO Paris (20–22 November).

2005

XVII^th FIT World Congress (Tampere, Finland 8–10 August).
Theme: Rights On!

2006

First international meeting of the Regional Centre Latin America (CRAL-FIT) on “Translation and Interculturality” (La Antigua, Guatemala, 25–27 May).

2007

4^th Asian Translation Forum (Bogor, Indonesia)

2008

XVIII^th FIT World Congress (Shanghai, China, 2–7 August).
Theme: Translation and Cultural Diversity.

2010

5^th Asian Translation Forum (Macau)

2011

XIX^th FIT World Congress (San Francisco, USA, 1–4 August).
Theme: Bridging Cultures

2013

60^th anniversary of FIT

6^th Asian Translation Forum (Penang, Malaysia)

2014

XX^th FIT World Congress (Berlin, Germany, 4–6 August).
Theme: Man vs. Machine? The Future of Translators, Interpreters and Terminologists

2015

Fit Legal Forum, Lima Peru.

2016

8^th Asia Pacific Translation and Interpreting Forum (APTIF8)

Xian, China

2017

XXI World Congress, Brisbane, Australia

Theme: Disruption and Diversification

2018

Legal Translation Forum, Bonn, Germany.

2019

9^th Asia Pacific Translation and Interpreting Forum (APTIF9)

Seoul, South Korea

2020

XXII congress postponed due to COVID-19 Pandemic

2022

XXII World Congress, Varadero, Cuba. Theme: A World without barriers – The Role of Language Professionals in Building Culture, Understanding and Lasting Peace.