By Sheena Forde-Craigg
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (GIS) – The ministry of foreign affairs and foreign trade is preparing to deepen its engagement in an ever-changing world, and one of its efforts to do so involves the establishment of a diplomatic academy.
According to the ministry’s director general, Donna Forde, and senior foreign service officer, Dr Ricardo Kellman, the academy will bring diplomatic experts, academics, and other actors together and enable the ministry to enhance its capacity to offer advice, support, and representational services to the government.
The first outreach activity of the academy, which was done via hybrid training, was held on April 18, on the topic of ‘Effective Negotiations’. On April 19, the academy held a comprehensive training simulation and discussion, which was enhanced by the participation of staff members of the office of the solicitor general. The training was conducted by the public international law firm, Volterra Fietta.
Also on that date, 14 students of the course ‘GOVT 3055: Theories and Practice of International Negotiations and Diplomacy’, from The University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus, had an engagement session with minister Kerrie Symmonds, senior members of the ministry, experts from the solicitor general’s office, and representatives from Volterra Fietta.
Minister Symmonds, in the session with The UWI students, noted:
“Diplomatic practices of states change and shape the world around us. It is, therefore, necessary to be able to examine the interactions of states, international politics, and the legal order in which diplomatic work is carried out.
“As we seek to expand our diplomatic engagement, we need a pool of persons from which we may draw. We need people to staff and serve in the ministry of foreign affairs and foreign trade, at home and abroad. Graduates of The University of the West Indies, who are able to think critically and who can analyse and make sense of international relations, are essential as we seek to take Barbados forward.”
Dr Kellman, who is also the lecturer for the course GOVT 3055, said:
“While I believe that the students have gained immensely from interrogating key topics throughout the semester, the engagement with such high-level experts today helps to cement some concepts in their minds. What would have only been theory before visiting the ministry of foreign affairs is now appreciated as a real and lived experience of the diplomatic and other representatives that they were able to meet.”
