News Releases

UWI Diplomatic Academy continues to Deepen Training Collaboration with CARICOM Foreign Ministries

For Release Upon Receipt - November 24, 2021

St. Augustine


The UWI St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago. Wednesday 24 November 2021 –– In 2021, The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean (DAOC) continued to deliver on its primary teaching mandate in the field of diplomatic studies, operationalizing a systematic approach to collaborating with foreign ministries and overseas missions of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States to meet some of their training needs.        

In addition to offering new and long-standing professional development training modules virtually, the DAOC has also utilized its institutional partnerships to connect CARICOM Foreign Service Officers with complementary diplomatic training opportunities. In this context, the Diplomatic Academy recently partnered with the Embassy of the United Mexican States accredited to Trinidad and Tobago to field a nominee for the 2021 Mexican Foreign Policy Course for Diplomatic Staff of the Americas. This training, co-organized by the Instituto Matías Romero (IMR) of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Mexico, took place virtually in the Spanish language from 9th to 18th November 2021.     

“We are delighted that, once again, the Diplomatic Academy was afforded the opportunity to put forward one nominee for this course, which is geared towards diplomats,” said the DAOC Manager, Dr. Nand C. Bardouille. He noted, “Regarding this training, we are pleased to have collaborated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, whose candidate and our nominee was a young diplomat, Ms. Akeila Samuel. We are also pleased that Ms. Samuel was admitted to and successfully completed this prestigious course of study.”         

“I am grateful to have been exposed to this high-level capacity building exercise,” said Ms. Samuel, Counsellor, Embassy of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the United States of America and Permanent Mission of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the Organization of American States. In reflecting on the course of study, Ms. Samuel noted that she now has keen insight into Mexico’s foreign policy priorities and diplomacy, contending that there are takeaways regarding St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ foreign policy context.      

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is honoured to be a beneficiary of this diplomatic training opportunity,” said Mr. Mozart Carr, Director of Foreign Policy and Research, Department of Foreign Policy and Research, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. He noted, “We are grateful to the United Mexican States, a valuable bilateral and multilateral partner for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. We also thank the DAOC, with whom the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade continues to collaborate to build its human resource capacity. The DAOC is fulfilling its function of empowering Caribbean diplomats to be better able to confront the challenges of the 21st century, while at the same time promoting the Caribbean civilization and context in global affairs.”

Dr. Bardouille underscored that this kind of practitioner-oriented diplomatic training, offered by partner institutions, reinforces the DAOC’s diplomatic studies-based capacity building support to regional foreign ministries, stating that the inbuilt partnership expands the Diplomatic Academy’s ability to scale up the reach and impact of such learning opportunities among CARICOM Foreign Service Officers.

END  

About the Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean 

The DAOC is the Caribbean's premier professional development-oriented diplomatic studies centre. An integral part of The University of the West Indies’ 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

The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region. 

From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. 

The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world. 

Ranked among the top universities in the world, by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. In 2020, it earned ‘Triple 1st’ rankings—topping the Caribbean; and in the top in the tables for Latin America and the Caribbean, and global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old).  The UWI is also featured among the top universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action. 

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 “The”, hence The UWI.)

 

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