News Releases

UWI Diplomatic Academy Contributes to Regional Corporate and Diplomatic Communication Upskilling

For Release Upon Receipt - November 6, 2020

St. Augustine


Another 13 Caribbean professionals, including a contingent of Foreign Ministry officials from The Bahamas, have successfully completed The UWI St. Augustine-based Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean’s (DAOC) training module on The Art of Corporate and Diplomatic Communication. Held from 26th to 30th October, this module was delivered for the fifth time. In a historic first, it took place entirely online.   

“We are delighted that yet another cohort of learners has successfully completed this training, which provides practical knowledge and skill-building germane to strengthening capabilities in both spoken and written communication,” said DAOC Manager Dr. Nand C. Bardouille.

The module’s curriculum was designed to take account of new trends in the field of study, including some of the pressing institutional communication needs and constraints brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fast-changing public service and corporate work environments of the digital and COVID-19 age, Dr. Bardouille explained, core communication skills and a sound grasp of new communication trends are in high demand. “The DAOC is committed to contributing to the future success of a cross section of Caribbean professionals through this long-standing, highly specialised training in corporate and diplomatic communication,” he said.    

The module was well-received by participants, who underscored that it will contribute to success in their respective jobs and career paths. The group of learners are keen to apply their newly-acquired skills, but also to leverage the module’s learner network.

The cohort hails from three Caribbean countries, including Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago.  

Director of the Institute of International Relations Professor Jessica Byron expressed satisfaction that the training module has enhanced participants’ corporate and diplomatic communication skills, calling attention to the imperative of such knowledge and capabilities in the wider context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Byron noted the pandemic’s complex realities, including in the realm of communication, highlighting that “in the age of COVID-19, effective corporate and diplomatic communication skills are more important than ever for Caribbean professionals.”

Long-serving module facilitator Ms. Sharon Welsh—a U.S.-based communication consultant and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University—once again delivered the training on behalf of the DAOC. 

                                                                       END 

 

About the Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean (DAOC)

The DAOC is Caribbean's premier professional development-oriented diplomatic studies centre. An integral part of The University of the West Indies' (UWI) Institute of International Relations (IIR), it was established in 2014. The DAOC has a primary teaching mandate in the area of diplomatic studies, offering short, highly specialized training modules in the broad field of diplomatic studies. For Caribbean professionals seeking to expand their capabilities to advance an international career, the DAOC is a trusted educational partner. Combining a world-class suite of curricular offerings, which align with topical policy and learning trends, with a programme of advocacy and partnerships regarding the relationship between diplomacy and the Caribbean, the Diplomatic Academy provides a unique setting for stakeholders to deepen diplomatic skills/knowledge and enhance policy expertise.

The DAOC has yielded substantial and complementary benefit to the IIR, which was established in 1966 by agreement between the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the Government of Switzerland.

Integral to the DAOC's mission is its commitment to help close human resources capacity gaps in international affairs and diplomacy in the Caribbean, by providing capacity-building and skills development training in diplomacy to up and coming diplomats and to aspiring diplomats from the Caribbean Region. This diplomatic learning and training facility also strengthens the University's capacities for research/analysis, knowledge‐sharing, advocacy, and partnerships and dialogue on the relationship between diplomacy and the Caribbean broadly conceived, with the goal of helping to facilitate policy-relevant awareness-raising on international affairs issues of import (and that are topical) to the Region.

The Diplomatic Academy derives its character from its global outlook, real-world impact and Caribbean mindedness which, in sum, constitute The DAOC Advantage™. For more information, please visit:  https://sta.uwi.edu/daoc.

 

About The UWI 

For more than 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students across five campuses: Cave Hill in Barbados; Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda; Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago; and an Open Campus. Times Higher Education has ranked The UWI among the top 1,258 universities in world for 2019, and the 40 best universities in its Latin America Rankings for 2018 and 2019. The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists.  

As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES); The UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. For more, visit www.uwi.edu

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of “The”) 

Contact