Diplomacy isn’t an immediately obvious candidate for consideration in the intense competition for international development funds and attention. Yet small and developing states can be enormously disadvantaged in international relations because they simply don’t have enough trained and knowledgeable people to represent their interests in crucial negotiations about global policy and practice. The enormous financial and human costs of participating in traditional training and Education in Diplomacy and International relations, generally located in expensive Northern centres, worsens the imbalance.
To address these problems the Diplo Foundation began providing high quality training and education in International Relations using modern ICTs to enable participation by Southern populations. Their work has been supported by a range of Governments and Agencies, including the Commonwealth, who hosted a reception in the gilded central hall of Marlborough House in London to mark ten years of collaboration. We were celebrating the major impact that this work has had on the lives of many of its participants, described in a publication launched at the event and in speeches from, amongst others, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, HE The Swiss Ambassador to London and the UK High Commissioner for Malta. The Secretary General was clear about the impact of the training:
Diplo has a number of lecturers who were themselves trained in the programme. Uchenna Okoli, a Nigerian graduate of Diplo, closed the presentation with a moving speech about the impact on her life. Here she talks about how it transformed her career and the key benefits of the training.
by Pete Cranston, Euforic Associate
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