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Glossary entry

Flemish term or phrase:

het Zuiden (Belgian)

English translation:

the global south

Added to glossary by Michael Beijer
May 17, 2013 18:36
11 yrs ago
Flemish term

'het Zuiden'

Flemish to English Bus/Financial Business/Commerce (general)
In Belgium there is this thing called Zuiddag, which involves Belgian school kids working one hour every week 'voor het Zuiden', 'voor mensen in het Zuiden', and for 'hun Zuiderse leeftijdsgenoten'.

'Kan mijn leerling op uitwisseling naar **het Zuiden**?

Sinds 2009 organiseert Zuiddag elk jaar een bezoek aan het jongerenproject in het Zuiden dat we zullen steunen met de campagne die volgt in oktober.

Jouw leerling mee op uitwisseling? Weet dat het bezoek aan **het Zuiden** geen plezierreisje is, maar dat fun en een unieke levenservaring gegarandeerd zijn!' (http://www.zuiddag.be/search/content/zuiden )

'Onder de slogan Work for Change gaan Vlaamse en Brusselse scholieren jaarlijks tijdens de schooluren één dag werken. Hun loon staan ze af aan een jongerenproject **in het Zuiden**. Vooraf maken ze kennis met de leefwereld van **hun Zuiderse leeftijdsgenoten** die in België op tournee zijn in de deelnemende scholen en steden. Leerkrachten en leerlingen krijgen een educatieve lesmap, een jongerenmagazine en filmpjes ter verduidelijking van het jaarlijks verkozen project en thema.' (http://www.zuiddag.be/work-change-op-donderdag-17-oktober-20... )

Am I allowed to say 'the South' in English? It doesn't sound very PC.

At first I thought they were just talking about the south of Belgium, but when I realised that they weren't I started having images of former slaves being toured around the UK in the 19th century and the former Belgian colonial empire.

My own context is actually:

'Dichter bij huis gingen op 19 september ter gelegenheid van de Zuiddag 19 jongeren aan het werk in verschillende functies bij XXX: administratief bediende, staalnemer, keurder en zelfs voorzitter van de Raad van Bestuur.'

...so I can probably get away with a parenthetical description of 'Zuiddag', which brings me to the question of a PC way of referring to 'countries in the south'. Or am I maybe just being too sensitive?
Proposed translations (English)
4 the Global South
4 the global south
Change log

Jun 12, 2013 12:48: Michael Beijer changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/652138">Michael Beijer's</a> old entry - "\'het Zuiden\'"" to ""the global south""

Discussion

Michael Beijer (asker) Jun 12, 2013:
another good ref. in favour of the global south: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/apr/26/wto...
Michael Beijer (asker) Jun 12, 2013:
Good point I'll message her.
MichaelDD Jun 12, 2013:
Yes, credits go to Sue Stewart-Anderson
Kirsten Bodart Jun 12, 2013:
Actually it should be Sue who gets it, because it was her suggestion. PM her?
MichaelDD Jun 12, 2013:
@Michael At your service ;-)
Michael Beijer (asker) Jun 12, 2013:
@anyone still following this: I finally decided to use 'the global south'. 'Developing countries' might also have been possible, but there were problems with that too (see my entry above). If someone would enter 'the global south' I could select it and close this question.
MichaelDD Jun 12, 2013:
Just to dispel all doubt... This is definitely NOT about the south of Belgium (Wallonia).
It's not easy to find a 1:1 English translation here... the Global South comes close. Maybe: 'needy nations' or 'needy countries' ?
Kirsten Bodart May 20, 2013:
I beg to differ I already heard the term 'het Zuiden' more than ten years ago in school in connection with coffee farmers in South America and fair trade. The Zuiddag seems something to do with helping people in vulnerable communities, not only in third world countries. Organisations like Broederlijk Delen (of which I saw the logo on the Zuiddag page, the man with the round feet and hands) also helps fair tourism in Israel and the Palestinian occupied territories. Israel is hardly a developing, or third world country. It's not PC to say that at any rate.
GeertTgh May 20, 2013:
Hey Michael, when we say "het Zuiden" we usually mean third world countries, usually Africa, because that's where our colonial history lies. Sometimes, as is the case here, they include South America. Which does sound kind of odd, I think. But I believe developing countries sounds reasonable, or third world. It is certainly the goal of de Zuiddag. The Global South I've never heard of, but that may just be me. :) Wouldn't that include South (East) Asia, among others?
Kirsten Bodart May 19, 2013:
Gosh, I thought about that but it struck me as a bit of a weird expression. Nonetheless, it seems great!
Michael Beijer (asker) May 19, 2013:
Thanks for that Sue! 'The global south' does seem to be a term that is used by respectable-looking people to refer to these countries. I think I would rather use that than mistakenly refer to a developed country as a developing country.

(info: http://www1.american.edu/academic.depts/acainst/cgs/about.ht... )
Sue Stewart-Anderson (X) May 18, 2013:
What about... the Global South? It's a term I have seen a lot in an overseas development context, used to mean the Africa, Central and Latin America, and part of Asia
Kirsten Bodart May 18, 2013:
Het zuiden is a kind of blanket term for countries that organisations like Oxfam try to help. Unfortunately they are not all third world countries or developing countries (Brazil is not, for example). Yesterday I looked on Oxfam to see how they dealt with the problem there and they don't, they just don't mention it. They help people in South Africa, for example, not a developing country at all. I thought about southern hemisphere, but Venezuele is not in the SH (is it?). Are there no more specific projects in your text you could refer to? Such as poverty, water, whatever, like Oxfam does. Much nicer than this typically Flemish thing of labelling people. If I've seen it correctly, this is by Broederlijk Delen, which is a Christian organisation like Oxfam.
Michael Beijer (asker) May 17, 2013:
@writeaway: I've already read through various articles written on the topic of Zuiddag on the internet. That's not the problem. I already understand what Zuiddag is. I was asking about a politically correct way (third world countries, the south, developing countries, undeveloped countries, poor countries, etc.) of translating the rather peculiar use of 'het Zuiden' in the Dutch as a blanket term for countries such as: Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Uganda, Indonesia, and Tanzania (all counties the project has helped in the past).

I don't need to live in Belgium to figure this out.
writeaway May 17, 2013:
Best thing is to read through articles on the www Native Anglos don't seem to have been invited to translate much -or any- of it but even the rough-edged English should give more idea. I really don't think it's about Flanders working on behalf of Wallonia though........ It's can be hard to translate about countries one only knows from the outside
Lianne van de Ven May 17, 2013:
Seems to be the only reasonable translation. Pretty much any place has a literal south and I didn't know what it meant until I read the names of the involved countries and projects. Just name it "Zuiddag" once (or sparingly) for reference but then just "developing countries." I am not the best PC expert, though.
Michael Beijer (asker) May 17, 2013:
¬¬¬ My initial though was to translate 'in het Zuiden' as 'in developing countries'.

Proposed translations

25 days
Selected

the Global South

Posted in response to Michael's kind suggestion
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks a lot Sue!"
25 days
Flemish term (edited): \'het Zuiden\'

the global south

Based on extensive discussion, and probably the most compact yet perfectly descriptive.
Something went wrong...
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