Multilateral Diplomacy and International Affairs Management

Impressions and Feedback from Participants of UNITAR's first e-Learning Course on Performing Effectively in Multilateral Conferences and Diplomacy

UNITAR has successfully concluded its first six-week internet-based e-Learning course entitled "Performing Effectively in Multilateral Conferences and Diplomacy"'. As part of this course, 185 participants from 87 countries successfully completed all course assignments and are eligible for a certificate. What follows is specific impressions and feedback of our e-participants relating to our e-Learing course. The messages below are posted at random and do not follow any particular order.

Congratulations UNITAR! This opportunity is unquestionably great especially for developing countries where access to education and training is minimal, leave alone enjoying the technology to use on line and discus over an issue globally like this.
The program gives a great chance to capacity building both in the subject matter (for the courses are well designed, informative, rich in content, etc.) and using IT for such a purpose. All in all you are doing a very excellent job. Thank you very much for every chance you granted us, requesting you to keep on doing so.

The UNITAR’s course gave me an excellent opportunity not only to make my knowledge more structured and enhance it with essential details but also to interact with people from different parts of the world also experienced in negotiations. The course focused both on theoretical part and on practical use of the knowledge gained by means of the situation games. Personally I enjoyed it a lot, especially communication in “virtual multicultural environment”. Such courses are also wonderful tools of self-assessment, which help you to distinguish personal strong and weak points and to develop “the diplomatic part of your personality.

Hasmik Simonyan
Attaché
Permanent Mission of Armenia to the UN Office at Geneva

I really wish to express my appreciation to the organizers of the course and UNITAR for granting me the chance to participate in the e-Learning course, it was a worthwhile chance. I learned a lot more in an area I thought I was very well versed with. I also benefited a lot from the discussions with colleagues and the trainers, and other interveners-thank you all. The organization of the course was just right, the trainers displayed high level of efficiency, and the technical support team gave the support desired - thanks to them all. The learning materials were dispatched right in time, with high level of information.

Joseah.K.Rotich
Commercial Attaché
Kenya Mission to the European Union, Brussels

I gained tons of knowledge including experiences from the trainers and participants as well as confidence and strategy if I am to cruise my boat in the sea of multi-lateral conferences. The course took us from one week to another very smoothly but it required a lot of interactions. The first thing I did early in the morning during the course was to check my e-portal for any replies to my posts. The course has made us believe that whether you are from north or south, from developed or developing country, your effective performance does influence the multi-lateral conferences.

Chit Win
Head of Branch-1, Protocol Department
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Union of Myanmar

What a great way to learn! The UNITAR team have clearly put a huge amount of effort into designing the course and in my view made an absolute success of it. The choice of materials was excellent. Revisiting elements of the video in later modules brought home very clearly the messages the trainers wanted to convey. The subject matter of each module was well thought out - with plenty of attention to the small details that make a real difference in understanding processes underway. Most of all I found the weekly discussion board really interesting and it certainly made the most of the e-Learning process. It was an amazing experience to read comments flying in from all round the world and really helpful to have the moderators’ extensive analysis of the questions and the comments the next week.

Harriet Gillett
MEA Support Programme, Senior Programme Officer
UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge

The programme has been a challenging and demanding experience. I believe I have gained invaluable knowledge from the modules provided that will help me in the performance of my duties. Interacting with people with different academic and professional backgrounds was very interesting and provided me the chance to associate with different points of view. In summary, a great initiative by UNITAR, which I hope will continue in this and in other formats!

Nicolas Kyriakou
Attaché, Community and International Law Department
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus

It has been a great and wonderful opportunity and quite a challenge for me to attend this valuable and exciting e-course. Through this well organized learning process and implemented by UNITAR's able instructors, I have learnt a lot with very well structured modules. What a success! The guidance and comments of experienced instructors, sharing of experience on the discussion board by fellow participants and instructors, and the tremendous support of the Team. As a career diplomat, this e-course will surely enable me to face the challenges and reality of the complex world of international affairs and diplomacy and be well prepared for international conferences, as a matter of fact.