Under the patronage of Prof. Mohamed Diaa Zain El-Abedeen, President of Ain Shams University; Prof. Ghada Farouk, Vice President for Community Service and Environmental Development; and Prof. Salwa Rashad, Dean of the Faculty of Al-Alsun, Ain Shams University, and under the supervision of Prof. Ashraf Attia, Vice Dean for Graduate Studies, five students from the English Department (Simultaneous Interpretation specialization) successfully completed a training program in simultaneous interpretation at the Arabic booth at the United Nations headquarters in Vienna. The program was supervised by UN translators and led by Ms. Hayam El-Eisawy, Coordinator of the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the UN and a simultaneous interpreter at the UN headquarters in Vienna, alongside Dr. Sahar Ragaa, the agreement coordinator on behalf of Ain Shams University.

This training was conducted as part of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM) and Ain Shams University.

The students participated in the training during the 67th session of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law - Working Group IV on Electronic Commerce - held from November 18 to 22, 2024, at the United Nations headquarters in Vienna.

Additionally, the students attended a special session on written translation with translators at the UN headquarters in Vienna, where they learned about the methods and tools used in written translation at the United Nations.

Upon their return, Prof. Salwa Rashad, Dean of the Faculty of Al-Alsun, emphasized during her reception of the students that the faculty places great importance on collaboration with regional and international organizations to exchange expertise with professionals in these organizations. This collaboration aims to refine the skills and knowledge of students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in the fields of simultaneous and written translation, aligning with the Faculty of Al-Alsun's pioneering role at Ain Shams University in preparing highly qualified translators to serve various state institutions.

Prof. Ashraf Attia, Vice Dean for Graduate Studies and supervisor of the cooperation protocol with the United Nations, highlighted that cooperation with the UN translation department has been ongoing since 2020. This collaboration has included several cultural and academic activities in simultaneous and written translation, in addition to implementing four training programs in simultaneous interpretation with the interpretation department in New York and another training program in written translation with the department in Geneva.

This collaboration has significantly enhanced the skills and qualifications of students in simultaneous and written translation. Notably, it enabled two students from the faculty to pass the competitive examination organized by the United Nations to recruit new translators worldwide. One student was appointed at the UN headquarters in New York, and the other in Geneva in 2022.