Hong Kong ombudsman to assess quality of government’s interpretation services for ethnic minority groups
- Ombudsman Winnie Chiu says her office will investigate how the government can improve its arrangements for hiring interpreters
- The office says interpreters should attain recognised qualifications and skills to ensure both people’s rights and the government’s operational efficiency
Hong Kong’s ombudsman will investigate the quality and practices of the government’s contracted interpretation services for various ethnic minority groups, as authorities have yet to set unified benchmarks for hiring interpreters.
Ombudsman Winnie Chiu Wai-yin announced the launch of the probe on Monday, saying her office would investigate how the government could improve its arrangements for hiring interpreters.
“Hong Kong is a multicultural society committed to forging the inclusion of people of diverse races and languages,” she said.
“I hope this investigation can prompt the government to improve its arrangements for engaging interpreters for foreign languages and Chinese dialects, boost its administrative efficiency and strengthen the monitoring of the quality of interpretation services.”
According to the government’s guidelines for the promotion of racial equality, all government bureaus and departments as well as public organisations that deliver services to people of various races have a duty to provide those in need with appropriate interpretation services.