Successful training for midcareer diplomats from Latin America and the Caribbean

This summer, Clingendael Academy welcomed nineteen mid-career level diplomats from the Latin America and Caribbean region to participate in a diplomatic training programme. Over the course of two weeks, the participants had the opportunity to dive into key cross-cutting policy themes that face their region and the world today.

Based on the unique Clingendael Method, the diplomats actively engaged in expert lectures and skills workshops and conducted working visits to familiarise themselves with the working processes of relevant international institutions. The programme was drafted under the umbrella of three overarching modules: Multilateralism and Economic Diplomacy, International Law, Peace, and Security, and Climate Change and Sustainability.

Highlights of the programme were a world café exercise with three experts, a simulation on international negotiations, and a media training conducted by an independent journalist. In addition, the programme provided a platform for enhanced inter- and intra-regional cooperation between the participants, forging a strong network during the working visits and social activities, including a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Court of Justice and Permanent court of Arbitration.

We look back on an extremely successful and comprehensive training programme, with participants noting that the course was highly relevant for their careers. Participants expressed their appreciation of the coordination and execution of this programme. An example of this was the overarching stakeholder management assignment that allowed the participants to immediately translate the knowledge and skills they gained into concrete policy goals for the region.