News Releases

UWI Diplomatic Academy Ramps Up Customized Training

For Release Upon Receipt - February 14, 2023

St. Augustine


The UWI St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago. Tuesday 14 February 2023 – The Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean (DAOC) of the Institute of International Relations at The University of the West Indies (The UWI) St. Augustine Campus brought the curtain down on yet another customized module on February 10th, putting into focus the prominence of this kind of training in its educational offerings during academic year 2022/23. Entitled Protocol and Diplomacy: A Guide for the Modern Professional, the five-day online module was geared toward 18 staff members of the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries (MEEI).

 "The Diplomatic Academy's operational approach is predicated on the provision of a combination of programmed modules  — which are scheduled during a given academic year and are the anchor of our course offerings — along with on demand, customized offerings based on our off-the-shelf, ready-made training content," said the DAOC Manager, Dr. Nand C. Bardouille. He noted, "The DAOC continues to be responsive to the growing demand for targeted and customized training, emanating from some of its institutional stakeholders, building on a firm foundation of experience and expertise in diplomatic studies. We are especially pleased with the recently concluded customized Protocol and Diplomacy module, which is the result of consultations and collaboration between the DAOC team and officials with responsibility for staff training at MEEI. We are grateful to all concerned at MEEI and we are honoured to have served as that Ministry's training provider."

 The module's teaching team was headed by Ms. Gail P. Guy, who is a retired diplomat and protocol consultant. Ms. Marise Warner, an attorney-at-law and international law specialist, served as the co-facilitator.    

 By virtue of two roundtables, which were driven by panelists variously operating in the fields of protocol and diplomacy, module participants were also exposed to the subject area perspectives and professional experiences of senior international experts, experienced diplomats and Protocol Officers. The roundtables were convened as follows:

 Virtual Roundtable#1 –  February 8th – subject: Protocol, focusing  on the following theme: Success factors related to holding international meetings/conferences and the associated  roles and responsibilities of an international organization's secretariat and national-level actors/stakeholders.

 Panelists:

●      His Excellency Gerard Greene, Ambassador for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to the Federative Republic of Brazil, Embassy of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago - Brasilia (Chairman of the Virtual Roundtable);

●      Ms. Sandra Basheer, Event Management Consultant and Trainer;

●      Ambassador Francisco Laínez, Senior Advisor in charge of the Department of Conferences and Meeting Management, Office of the Assistant Secretary General, Organization of American States;

●      Ms. Cherry-Ann Millard, formerly served in the Trinidad and Tobago public service, including at senior levels in the Foreign Service; 

●      Ms. Diane Quarless, Director, UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean.

 Virtual Roundtable#2 –  February 9th – subject: Diplomacy, which was taken up with the following topic: Do small countries with natural resources have a more symmetrical power dynamic with larger and powerful states or does this highlight the asymmetrical nature of power on the world stage? 

 Among this Roundtable's talking points were the following sub-themes:

❖       Has Trinidad and Tobago been able to shape international energy policy or is it shaped by such policy?

❖       What has been Guyana's experience—from bauxite to petroleum?

❖       What has been the impact of the emergence of another Caribbean territory with hydrocarbon reservoirs? Does this buttress the region’s collective power or diminish the power of its neighbours?

 Panelists:

●      Ambassador Eden Charles, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority for the Enterprise and former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Deputy Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the  United Nations, New York (Chairman of the Virtual Roundtable);

●      Dr. Janette Bulkan, Associate Professor, Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry, The University of British Columbia;

●      Dr. Alicia Elias-Roberts, Deputy Dean (Student Experience and Internationalisation) and lecturer in the Faculty of Law, The UWI St. Augustine campus [with teaching and research interests in inter alia Oil, Gas and Energy Law];

●      Ms. Helena Inniss: Energy Consultant, Kronus Geological Services, Ltd. and formerly served in senior positions at the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs.

Ambassador Gerard Greene also delivered Feature Remarks at the module's Closing Ceremony on February 10th. His remarks — which fittingly drew on his long and distinguished career and focused on best practice in respect of the core dimensions of the module — were a great send-off for the course participants. 

 The representative of course participants at the Closing Ceremony and Energy Relations and International Affairs Adviser to the Minister of MEEI, Ms. Tarisse Austin, underscored that participants evaluated the module as successful. Ms. Austin characterized the course facilitators as outstanding, calling attention to the excellent resource persons on hand and first-rate course content.

 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 University of the West Indies

 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 for the past 75 years.

 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: Monain Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hillin Barbados, Five IslandsinAntigua and Barbuda and itsOpen Campus, and 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.

 The UWI has been consistently ranked among the top universities globally by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists since its debut in the rankings in 2018. In addition to its leading position in the Caribbean in the World University Rankings, it is also in the top 25 for Latin America and the Caribbean and the top 100 global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old).  The UWI is also featured among the leading 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.

 2023 marks The UWI’s 75th anniversary. The Diamond jubilee milestone themed “UWI at 75. Rooted. Ready. Rising.” features initiatives purposely designed and aligned to reflect on the past, confront the present, and articulate plans for the future of the regional University.

 Learn more at www.uwi.edu  

 

Contact