DiploNews – Issue 387 – 20 January 2020

Upcoming study opportunities

February 2020 online diplomacy courses

Start the new year with one of our most popular online courses:

• Diplomatic Theory and Practice
• Public Diplomacy
• Introduction to Internet Governance

Apply by 31 January 2020 for Diplo certificate courses. For further information or to apply, click on the titles of the courses listed, or visit our courses webpage. Register now to reserve your place.

Capacity Development course

Capacity development is central to aid effectiveness. Yet, many practitioners are unsure about what capacity development really means, and how to put it into practice. This course introduces the key concepts, principles, and values of capacity development. You will learn practical skills to help you:

• Understand capacity development and how it relates to culture, context, and the sustainable development goals
• Assess existing capacity, capacity needs, and change readiness
• Work with stakeholders
• Formulate capacity goals, objectives, and indicators
• Plan and implement a capacity development initiative, using effective tools and methods

• Measure the results of a capacity development initiative in a way that fosters learning

Apply NOW if you are:

• A capacity development practitioner or researcher
• A development professional who wants to implement capacity development in your work
• A diplomat responsible for development co-operation
• A student or professional interested in moving into, or gaining more understanding of, the development field

The course is facilitated by capacity development professionals with decades of experience working in the field, around the world. It is delivered in an interactive online classroom, with weekly readings, discussions, and short, practical assignments that will help you apply what you learn directly to your daily work.

The next session starts on 17 February 2020 and the application deadline is 20 January 2020. Please visit the course webpage to read more and apply.

Humanitarian Diplomacy Diploma course

Apply now for the next session of the popular online course Humanitarian Diplomacy, offered in co-operation with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). This highly interactive 13-week course, led by Ambassador Christopher Lamb and a team of experienced practitioners, extends the knowledge base and develops practical skills of current and future practitioners in humanitarian diplomacy and policy. The course familiarises participants with basic definitions, concepts, actors, and institutions in the field of humanitarian diplomacy; introduces international humanitarian law; hones advocacy and negotiation skills; develops participants’ research skills; and, increases their understanding of national and regional humanitarian diplomacy activities.
 The course is offered in English; however, participants have the option of writing and submitting major course assignments and the final research paper in French or Spanish.
 The next session starts on 17 February 2020 and the application deadline is 20 January 2020. Please visit the course webpage to read more and apply.

Malta scholarships

Thanks to support from the government of Malta, partial scholarships are available for applicants from developing countries to attend upcoming Diplo online courses. These scholarships cover 30%–60% of course fees and can be applied to most online courses in 2020. Browse our course catalogue and contact us at admissions@diplomacy.edu for further information. You can also sign up for our courses mailing list to be informed about upcoming courses.


Upcoming events

5th Geneva Engage Awards

The annual Geneva Engage Awards recognise the actors in International Geneva in their social media outreach and engagement. The awards are a Geneva Engage initiative, which fosters effective links between International Geneva and communities worldwide that are affected by issues such as climate change, human rights, development, and migration, whose policies are discussed and negotiated in Geneva.

The event will be hosted at the WMO/OMM building in Geneva on Wednesday 29th January, at 16:00 CET.

For more information and to register, visit the dedicated page.

[Briefing] Internet governance in January 2020

What were the main Internet governance updates in January? How will recent updates influence the developments in upcoming months? Join us for our next monthly briefing on Tuesday, 28th January, at 12:00 UTC (13:00 CET), for a round-up of the major global IG and digital policy developments. Remember to register for the event.

Geneva Day at the WEF 2020 in Davos

DiploFoundation and the Geneva Internet Platform will be involved in the Geneva Day during the WEF 2020 meeting in Davos.

Jovan Kurbalija, director of DiploFoundation, will be moderating the Panel: How to govern Digital Interdependence.

For more information, visit the dedicated webpage.

Policy brief

In her policy brief The EU’s new Commission: Digital policy in the limelight, Stephanie Borg Psaila analyses Ursula von der Leyen’s new EU Commission’s emphasis on digital policy for 2019-2024. She underlines that in relation to technology and digital policy, there are 10 key areas of relevance, including artificial intelligence (AI) and data, which the EC President sees as the key ingredients that can help solve societal problems.

Diplo in the media

A blog post by Jovan Kurbalija was re-published and shared by the site swissinfo.ch. The article How should we regulate the magic of technology in the 2020s? acknowledges that digital technologies offer huge potential to enhance the human experience, yet, as we enter 2020, serious questions must be resolved over future digital governance, especially in the field of artificial intelligence.

What’s been happening in Diplo’s blogosphere?

In his blog post 2020: The year of online participation, Arvin Kamberi looks at a rising online participation in 2019, Greta Thunberg’s wake-up call for innovative digital diplomacy tools, and available technologies.