Renewing a partnership for diplomatic training: Mexico, Malta, and Switzerland

On Friday, 23 June, Mexico, Malta, and Switzerland renewed their memorandum of understanding on diplomatic training. The original memorandum was signed in 2009 by the three countries and was renewed in 2013 and 2015.

Last week, the renewal of the memorandum was signed by H. E. Ambassador Valentin Zellweger, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations and the other International Organisations in Geneva, H.E. Ambassador Socorro Flores Liera, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations and the other International Organisations in Geneva, and H.E. Ambassador Olaph Terribile, Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations and the other International Organisations in Geneva (photo left to right).

The memorandum calls for cooperation in the field of diplomatic training and is operationalised by the Instituto Matias Romero (IMR – Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and DiploFoundation (Diplo – established by Malta and Switzerland). The two organisations, each specialised in diplomatic training, began their cooperation some 14 years ago. Since that time, more than 500 diplomats have been engaged in diplomatic training through the agreement, and the two institutions worked together to develop and deliver an online course on Migration and Development.

The partners and the implementing institutions look forward to further years of active cooperation and the development of new initiatives of mutual interest.

Reflections from training participants

The E-Diplomacy course gives you a great opportunity to explore different social media tools in a safe environment. At the same time, it allows you to participate actively with people around the world; this offers you a rich and diverse insight from their work… It provides you different perspectives, and most importantly it teaches you a new way of including “diplomacy” in the 21st century by using new and up-to-date technologies that allow us to reach our diaspora and communicate safely and more efficiently. I will completely recommend it for people that are interested in using e-tools effectively in their day-to-day activities. It is very dynamic, interactive and fun! 

Beatriz Castro Sierra, Border Specialist, Embassy of Mexico in Washington, D.C., July 2016

The Diplomatic Theory and Practice course has been a wonderful surprise. The main lecture was enormously useful to my academic and personal knowledge in diplomacy. What I like the most was that I got the great opportunity to learn from all my course mates’ own “diplomatic” experiences. Truly thankful to course coordinators for their patience during the course. A really challenging course and worth every single day of it!  

Alejandro Lozano, Commissioner of Political and Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of Mexico to Vatican City (Holy See), April 2016