Clingendael Academy received a diverse and broad group of junior diplomats from Eastern Africa. The participants came from Rwanda, Soouth Africa, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Burundi, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Somalia, as well as representatives of  regional organizations East African Community (EAC), African Union (AU) and Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

During the three week training programme the participants have become familiar with many international institutions based in The Hague and Brussels. The working visits to NATO, the INternational Court of Justice, European Commission, the European Parliament and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs were very fruitful. “These visits have considerably increased my knowledge of international institutions”, according to one of the participants.

Regionalization

In addition to lectures on themes such as cyber diplomacy, trends in international security and developments in international political economy, substantial attention was devoted to diplomatic skills. Especially negotiation, presentation skills and policy briefing were addressed. Within the practical exercises aimed to develop these international skills, participants had to work in teams. The teamwork assignments helped to give the junior diplomats new perspectives on regional cooperation. 

They identified opportunities in regional cooperation in tackling common problems in the field of climate change, security threats and economic development. The participants appreciated that the fact that  the course allowed them to interact with and learn from each other. Negative stereotypes were challenged, mutual understanding fostered and the time spend together brought diplomats closer together.

- 24 September 2015