News Releases

UWI Diplomatic Academy, Mexican Foreign Ministry partner in selection of CARICOM national

For Release Upon Receipt - November 26, 2020

St. Augustine


Latam/Caribbean foreign policy course 

The UWI St. Augustine-based Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean (DAOC) has collaborated with the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) national to attend a prestigious foreign policy course. Mrs. Chantel Mathurin-Pamphile, a protocol assistant with Saint Lucia’s Department of External Affairs, took part in the professional development training organised and hosted by Mexico’s Instituto Matías Romero (IMR).

The 26th Mexican Foreign Policy Course for Diplomats of Latin America and the Caribbean was held virtually from November 17 to 26, and it was delivered in Spanish by a line-up of experienced resource persons. The course provides a comprehensive overview of Mexico’s contemporary foreign policy, focussing on the Latin American and Caribbean region. The course covers Mexico’s international development cooperation, and more.

Speaking on her acceptance into the course, Mrs. Mathurin-Pamphile said “I am very grateful for the opportunity to participate,” adding that “it will provide a platform from which I can gain first-hand knowledge of Mexico’s foreign policy, particularly towards Latin America and the Caribbean. It is also an opportunity to share and learn from professionals as well as colleagues in the field of diplomacy.”

In a first-ever collaboration of its kind between the IMR and the DAOC, the Diplomatic Academy was allocated one seat in the 26th iteration of the prestigious course. The DAOC liaised with foreign ministries in CARICOM, inviting candidate submissions. Following a selection process, the DAOC nominated Mrs. Mathurin-Pamphile, who was then selected by the course organiser. 

“The DAOC has once again contributed to the professional development of a new generation of Caribbean diplomat,” said DAOC Manager, Dr. Nand C. Bardouille. “We are very pleased that we have been able to assist a small CARICOM jurisdiction with training and capacity development in diplomatic studies, especially in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic, which places even more pressure on small states’ diplomatic capabilities and resources.”

The IMR/DAOC arrangement builds on an institutional cooperation memorandum of understanding on diplomatic and academic collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Mexican States and The UWI’s Institute of International Relations (IIR), the DAOC’s parent body.

“This arrangement opens new opportunities to deepen institutional cooperation,” Dr. Bardouille underscored. 

Mexican Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago H.E. Mrs. Rosario Molinero said of the IMR/DAOC arrangement: “This collaboration is informed by the MOU on diplomatic and academic collaboration.” Ambassador Molinero noted that “it establishes relevant objectives in the field of diplomatic training, participation of young diplomats in courses/programmes of both academies, exchange of information and experiences on issues of common interest, diplomatic academic education, and exchange of specialised publications on diplomacy, foreign policy, international relations, among others.”

The course, she added, “seeks to bring the region’s diplomats closer to the foundations, principles and tools of the Mexican foreign policy in order to create synergies of understanding and friendship among future diplomats of the region.”

Ms. Adria Rose Sonson, permanent secretary in the Department of External Affairs of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Growth, Job Creation, External Affairs and Public Service of Saint Lucia stated that: “On behalf of the government and people of Saint Lucia, I wish to extend sincere gratitude to the government and people of Mexico for affording Mrs. Mathurin-Pamphile the opportunity to participate in such a prestigious programme.” Ms. Sonson further noted: “This will bring much value to her performance, particularly in the subject area of Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Ms. Sonson also commended the DAOC for “its efforts in ensuring that junior diplomats have a strong leg to stand on as they move up the rungs of the ladder of their profession. There is a bright future for diplomacy in the Caribbean.”

Professor Jessica Byron, Director of IIR, said, “I am delighted that collaboration between the Instituto Matias Romero and IIR has expanded to include training of this nature.”  

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About the Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean (DAOC)

The DAOC is the 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”) 

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