The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad in collaboration with Diplomacy-Etiquette and Protocol Consulting (DEPC) has concluded a 4-day intensive training for the newly appointed ambassadors-designate and diplomatic personnel, held 2-5 August 2022 at the Ministry in Banjul.
The training, which was led by a veteran diplomat, Ambassador Ebrima Ousmane Ndure, availed the participants the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the country’s foreign policy agenda, prepare them for the challenges, and the opportunity to understand the role of The Gambia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Gambia’s diplomatic missions, diplomatic norms, and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Protocol, and Etiquette.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad Dr. Mamadou Tangara congratulated the new appointees.
“It has been the need to protect the national sovereignty, territorial integrity and interest, preserve the welfare of our diaspora and support the principle position to build relations with countries and institutions that reinforce the multi-stakeholder national processes to effectively deliver on the objectives of the national development programme,” he remarked.
Tangara went on to advise: “It is only through a great degree of flexibility and acute awareness of the opportunities in your various duty stations that the foreign policy objective can be fully realised”.
The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Madam Saffie Sankareh-FARAGE, also expressed best wishes for their recent appointments at the foreign service. “Indeed, this isn’t the first time we are crossing paths, as we have had the pleasure of working together in your previous capacities and we can attest to your proactiveness and dedication to duty. We are, therefore, in no doubt that you will bring tremendous value to the important work that we do for The Gambia”.
PS Sankareh-FARAGE added that the programme is aimed at providing the ambassadors-designate and diplomatic personnel a solid foundation upon which they can grow into their new roles as foreign service officers.
Madam Farage gave an insightful presentation on “The Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations (1961) and Consular Relations (1963)”.
At the conclusion of the training each participant was awarded a certificate.