MBE for MITI

In the May - June 2014 ITI Bulletin we speak to Manal Nakli MITI was recently honoured with an MBE. She talks to ITI Bulletin about the evolution of her translation career and her pride in receiving this honour.

Your MBE citation was for ‘Promoting British-Arab Understanding’. Can you tell us more about your work in this area?

I have worked for Her Majesty’s Government on Middle East affairs for the past 23 years. Firstly at the British Embassy in Kuwait for 12 years, and then for more than 10 years so far here in the UK. I grew up in Kuwait, and from 1991-2003 I was Press & Public Affairs Officer at the British Embassy there. I was a member of the core Embassy staff during the second Gulf War, when most of us were evacuated.

I moved to the UK with my husband in 2003, and in 2004 I was asked to set up and run the new Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Arabic website and serve as translator to the FCO Press Office and Middle East Department. My role is fairly wide-ranging but with the overarching objective of promoting UK policies and values (political, cultural and commercial) to the Arab world and advising on cultural, historical and religious sensitivities in the texts that I translate.

With the advent of the Arab Spring I was tasked with using social media to influence a younger Arab audience by establishing the FCO Arabic Facebook page and Twitter account. We cover themes such as Syria, the Arab Spring, the Middle East peace process and human rights.

When did you find out about your MBE?

I received a letter out of the blue from the Protocol Department at the Foreign Office in late November 2013, stating that I’d been recommended for an MBE in the 2014 New Year Honours Diplomatic & Overseas List, and would I accept the award? Of course I felt incredibly honoured and the answer was yes. Nominees are under strict instructions not to tell anyone, including family and friends, until the awards are announced on 31 December. So it was lovely to have a double celebration and share the news at midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Tell us about the ceremony.

I received an official invitation from the Lord Chamberlain to attend the investiture at Buckingham Palace on 21 March, with Prince Charles officiating. Honours recipients are allowed three guests to observe the two-hour ceremony in the Palace ballroom. I was delighted my sister came over from Kuwait and my husband and a sister-in-law were also there.

There were about 50 other recipients, from knights and dames to members of the Household receiving the Royal Victorian Order. Recipients are briefed in advance by a royal equerry about protocol for meeting the Prince and receiving an award. It was amusing to watch a senior male army colonel in full dress uniform demonstrating to the ladies how to curtsey.

Prince Charles, who is knowledgeable about the Arab world, chatted to me warmly and had clearly been briefed about my work for the FCO. He thanked me for translating some of his recent letters and when I said I’d met him three times previously at the British Embassy in Kuwait, replied: ‘Of course’. Afterwards we mingled in the sunshine in the courtyard while waiting to have our official photos taken. We then repaired to the nearby Goring Hotel for a nice celebratory lunch with friends. We are also planning a larger gathering in May to celebrate.

You recently qualified as an MITI, so double congratulations are in order. What do you get out of your membership of the Institute?

I enjoy the contact with other professional translators and the opportunity to attend events from the AGM to CPD seminars and the walking weekends in the countryside. I always read the Bulletin (sometimes late), and the ITI email newsletters are also a helpful source of information. I am delighted to have passed the MITI exam and welcome the accreditation it gives me. I just want to keep improving, honing my linguistic skills, enjoying my work and keeping clients happy.