United Nations trains Eswatini protocol officers

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the United Nations in Eswatini, with support technical and financial support from the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA), are hosting 5-day training workshop for Eswatini protocol officers from 17-21 July 2023 at the Hilton Garden Inn, Mbabane.

The training on Diplomatic Protocol and Etiquette and Conflict Resolution, Negotiation and Mediation is attended by over 40 participants from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ministry of Home Affairs, King’s Office and Royal Eswatini Police Service.

The training is conducted by seasoned facilitators from UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) and the Kenya School of Government. They include Ms. Lynette Otwori, Consultant and Trainer in Management Communication, Protocol and Etiquette at the Kenya School of Government, Mr. Emmanuel Bombande, a conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and development professional from Ghana and Chair of the Board of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict as well as Esra Çuhadar, a mediation, peacebuilding and development professional from Turkey.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Senator Thulie Dladla, who was represented by the Acting Principal Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Mbingo, noted that the training has come at a critical time, when the ministry had redeployed and employed a new team of young diplomats. “As I earlier emphasized, this is the second diplomatic training and this reflects the strong commitment of the Ministry to ensure that diplomatic training remains relevant and essential for all our staff,” he stated.

The training is hosted following a request from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to the United Nations Resident Coordinator. It follows a similar training hosted in June 2019 which was facilitated by Nicole Bresson-Ondieki, Deputy Chief of Protocol from the UN Secretary General’s Office and Mr Amit Singhal, Senior Political Affairs Officer in the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.

UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. George Wachira, who was represented by the UN’s Senior Policy Adviser, Mr. Ferdinand von Habsburg-Lothringen noted that the training is expected to meet the requirements for the 21st century as well as His Majesty’s vision of first world status. “Capacity strengthening in skills that are necessary for the proper execution of the Government and the Ministries' mandates as well as that of the King’s Office and the professional development of all staff are essential,” he stated.  “It is not by coincidence that these address the very essence of human interaction: protocols, etiquette, conflict resolution using dialogue, mediation – tools that help sustain peaceful relations, establish and deepen trust and assure us that human beings represent all that is good to one another.”