22 April 2022, New York, United States (Virtual) –  The closing ceremony for the Global Diplomacy Initiative Programme (GDI) took place to celebrate the GDI fellows’ graduation at the United Nations Institute Training and Research office in New York. The GDI programme provides a unique training experience for professionals and students in higher stages of education who are interested in the United Nations to understand how it functions while developing technical knowledge and gaining learning experience from experts.

The closing ceremony was attended by the GDI fellows, UNITAR staff and course facilitators some of whom are experts and diplomats from various fields including; Ms. Jelena Pia-Comella, Former Deputy Permanent Representative of the Principality of Andorra to the United Nations, Senior Consultant, Ms. Larisa Schelkin, MS PE, MS CS, CEO & Founder, Global STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Education Center, Inc. and President, Global STEM Education Consulting, LLC; Dr. Michael Jabot, Department of Curriculum, and Instruction at The State University of New York at Fredonia; Dr. Angel Angelov, Head of the Middle East and North Africa Directorate, at the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNITAR Facilitator; H.E. Dr. Yuriy Sergeyev, Former Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations; Ms. Holly White, United Nations Development Programme, Human Resources Specialist – Central Recruitment, and Ms. Michele Clarke-Ceres, Co-Founder/President, WorldCeres Inc. Executive Career Coach, Soft Skills Trainer - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Consultant.

Mr. Marco A. Suazo, Head of the UNITAR’s New York Office, started his welcoming remarks by thank everyone for their efforts, time and success of GDI spring 2022. He talked about the Global Diplomacy Initiative’s goal which is to provide the opportunity for students and professionals to learn about diplomacy from experts and diplomats in context of first-hand experience. Mr. Suazo advised fellows to take advantage of networking and staying touch with one another as human beings are social beings by nature. The distinguished professors and experts expressed their appreciation towards the students for their participations and discussions in the programme. Furthermore, the students talked about how they benefited from the programme, how the knowledge gained helped professionals in implementing their jobs and how students still pursuing their careers gained a clear vision of the diplomatic world. GDI Fellows expressed their appreciation for the programme and provided impressive feedback about the professors, materials and presentations shared during the sessions, providing a great learning opportunity.