DiploNews – Issue 63 – 23 August 2004
Multistakeholder Diplomacy Online Internships – Call for Applications
DiploFoundation, in collaboration with the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), is offering three-month online internships in Multistakeholder Diplomacy. Requirements include a good command of English, the ability to work in a diverse, challenging environment, and the ability to undertake independent tasks. Applicants must have experience and/or interest in one or more area of focus related to multistakeholder diplomacy such as participation of civil society and the private sector in international initiatives, or procedures of multilateral diplomacy. We especially encourage participants with an interest in researching case studies linked to developing countries and issues related to information technology (e.g. WSIS, Internet Governance).
Interns will take part in a two-week training period focusing on knowledge management tools and skills prior to beginning the internships. Selected interns will be paid a monthly stipend by the GKP. Interns will be expected to devote at least ten hours a week to the internship. If sufficient funding is available, interns may be assisted with travel costs to Malta to attend the International Conference on Multistakeholder Diplomacy in February 2005.
Interested applicants should read the multistakeholder diplomacy internship programme description and send a CV and a letter of interest stating the preferred area of research, and qualifications for that topic, to diplo@diplomacy.edu. The application deadline is August 31, 2004.
For more information, please consult the programme description or contact diplo@diplomacy.edu.
Language and Diplomacy Online Course – Last Call for Applications
This course, starting on October 6, 2004, explores how language works and how it can best be put to work in the service of diploma-cy and international relations. It promotes language awareness as a means of improving diplomatic and political skills. Close attention is paid to case studies of treaties,presidential speeches, public announcements, government advertising and media material in order to link theoretical discussion to practical examples. The course is conducted entirely online over a period of 2.5 months.
The deadline for applications is September 1, 2004. For more information or to apply, visit the course website or e-mail admissions@diplomacy.edu
Performance Management in Foreign Ministries
Clingendael has recently published Ambassodor Kishan Rana’s monograph on performance management in foreign ministries, as part of their “Discussion Papers in Diplomacy” series. Ambassador Rana is a Senior Fellow and lecturer with DiploFoundation. In foreign ministries, performance management techniques (PERM) are used in three areas: oversight and optimization of the distributed networks of the diplomatic system, i.e. the embassies and permanent missions; human resource management; and for detailed reporting to publics on the objectives and the outcomes of the ministry’s work, i.e. public diplomacy. While some aspects of the performance of diplomatic systems can be measured, and this permits limited comparative study, the core of their work is not amenable to measurement, and is not accessible to external scholars, except when documents are declassified, some decades after the event. The application of PERM is leading to leaner embassies, greater use of local staff, and systemic change, generally raising levels of efficiency. But carried too far for the oversight of embassies, PERM produces paradoxical result. It might lead to mechanical conformity, sap local initiative, and micro-management from headquarters. The full paper can be read online on the Clingendael website.
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