Training for International Diplomats

Foreign Minister Westerwelle in dialogue with Ms. Dina Heikal, one of the Egypt participants in the 10. training for diplomats from Middle East
© Dirk Enters

Foreign Minister Westerwelle in dialogue with Ms. Dina Heikal, one of the Egypt participants in the 10. training for diplomats from Middle East

Foreign Minister Westerwelle in dialogue with Ms. Dina Heikal, one of the Egypt participants in the 10. training for diplomats from Middle East

© Dirk Enters

For each other, working together, worldwide – Training for International Diplomats is a success story: in just six years the number of programmes on offer has grown from three to eighteen per year. These are optimum conditions for a diplomatic network for the future.

For each other

German foreign policy is peace policy. It is committed to democracy and human rights worldwide, and we realize that today’s challenges can only be tackled effectively if countries unite their efforts. Going it alone is not an option. In an increasingly interconnected world, what is needed is cooperation, not policies driven by national interests. And this is precisely where Training for International Diplomats comes in.

Training for International Diplomats is an invitation to our partners from around the world at the beginning of their careers to share their experience with us, to compare points of view and to identify common goals. This further-training initiative is designed for junior diplomats who, like us, recognize the value of a cosmopolitan outlook, the rule of law and partnership as foreign policy tools.

The Training for International Diplomats programme was established in 1992 after the end of the Cold War, the aim being to promote the development of foreign services in the young democracies with courses for diplomats from Central and Eastern Europe. Later we added courses for diplomats from Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America, China, Belarus, Ukraine and the Western Balkans. We now offer 18 courses for more than 170 countries. As part of the transformation partnerships, extensive programmes for young diplomats from Tunesia, Egypt, and Libya will be established in 2011/2012. 2012 will also see the launch of a programme for diplomats from the world's youngest democracy, South Sudan.

Working together

The International Diplomats Programme in conversation with the former Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt
© Foreign Office

The International Diplomats Programme in conversation with the former Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt

The International Diplomats Programme in conversation with the former Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt

© Foreign Office

Seminars and workshops, meetings with young German diplomats, internships at the Federal Foreign Office, language courses, excursions and study trips to Brussels, Geneva, The Hague, Vienna and destinations within Germany are all part of the agenda. The programmes are usually led by former ambassadors familiar with the region from which the participants come.

The young diplomats return to their home countries as friends of Germany. Over 1900 junior diplomats from more than 170 countries have attended courses to date. The number of courses on offer has continued to rise in recent years: three programmes in 2005 became eight in 2008, and 18 seminars will be held in 2012. Each year, we welcome around 300 junior diplomats to Berlin from around the world. Yet we still cannot meet the demand.

Worldwide

Participants in the 4th Executive Seminar for Diplomats from Latin America and the Caribbean
© Dirk Enters

Farewell Ceremony

Participants in the 4th Executive Seminar for Diplomats from Latin America and the Caribbean

© Dirk Enters

The further-training programmes offered by the Foreign Service Academy not only include the annual programmes for participants from the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and Asia which have become well established over the years; they also involve courses for young diplomats posted in Berlin, held in both German (Diplomatenkolleg and EU-Kolleg) and English (International Diplomats Programme).

Then there are the regular alumni meetings. Once a year, we organize a one-day event for former participants now posted in Germany. There are currently around 150 alumni working in missions in Germany, several of them as ambassadors. 2011 saw in addition one meeting in Tallinn for alumni from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia and one in Berlin for alumni from the Middle East and North Africa. In 2012 alumni of the Diplomatenkolleg will be invited to meet in Tbilisi, whereas alumni of the German-language International Executive Seminar and of the Executive Seminar for Diplomats from Central and Eastern Europe will be invited to re-visit Berlin in December.

By fostering ties between young diplomats from all over the world, the Training for International Diplomats programme helps build a network of mutual trust and cooperation. That is what we mean by “diplomacy by networking”. This network of diplomats is a valuable resource for the Federal Foreign Office.

Partners

The Diplomats’ College on the set of the Tagesschau news programme
© Foreign Office

The young diplomats in the "Tagesschau" (a German newscast) studio

The Diplomats’ College on the set of the Tagesschau news programme

© Foreign Office

The Federal Foreign Office’s cooperation partners include the Robert Bosch Foundation, the BMW Stiftung Herbert Quandt, the German Council on Foreign Relations, the European Academy Berlin, the Goethe-Institut and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development as well as various higher education institutions.

Foreign Service Academy

The Federal Foreign Office’s training courses for international diplomats are free of charge. The sending states are only responsible for covering the travel costs of the participants. Their foreign ministries are invited to nominate candidates for the seminars. Depending on the course, good German, French or English language skills are required. All of our programmes include German language courses.

More information is available here:

external link, opens in new windowwww.diplomatie.de

Internationale Diplomatenausbildung (1-DA)
11013 Berlin
Tel. +49 (0)30 1817 4830
Fax +49 (0)30 1817 4888
Email: 1-DA-S[at]diplo.de

Last updated 20.02.2012