Boeing announced Thursday that it has formed a partnership with Tarjimly — an app that allows refugees to access free language services — to help the app expand its reach.
Tarjimly works with a global team of volunteer translators and interpreters to offer free services in more than 120 different languages. Boeing has committed to a $100,000 multi-year investment in the app, which will allow Tarjimly to reach a larger pool of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, as well as language experts to provide linguistic aid.
“Language shouldn’t be a reason for denial of service,” said Atif Javed, the executive director and co-founder of Tarjimly. “At Tarjimly, we believe it’s a human right to be heard and understood. We are excited to partner with the Boeing community to democratize language access for displaced persons globally.”
According to Tarjimly, language barriers hinder communication for roughly 44% of refugees across the world. These barriers can, of course, impede an individual’s ability to receive the necessary care and resources.
Javed and co-founder Aziz Alghunaim started the company in 2017 in response to the Syrian refugee crisis, which the United Nations maintains to be the largest refugee crisis the world has seen. Though the company’s name is derived from an Arabic word meaning “translate,” the app has provides services to several refugee communities worldwide.
The app works with a network of more than 13,000 volunteer translators and interpreters who provide beneficiaries with whatever language services they might need, usually within minutes of requesting services. In September 2022, the company was awarded the AI For Humanity award from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Solve initiative.
As a new partner of Tarjimly, Boeing employees will have the opportunity to receive training from Tarjimly to become volunteer interpreters and translators on the platform.
“Equitable access to information is a key human right, and Tarjimly is an easy-to-use, free and easily accessible tool that aims to help millions of refugees and immigrants around the world get the information they need quickly,” said Ziad Ojakli, Boeing’s executive vice president of government operations.
