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BIDTI is the right place to kick start your passion and interest in Diplomacy and World Affairs


I first stepped into the lecture hall of the BIDTI with a lot of excitement and eagerness for as it was the first time I was learning in detail, things outside the borders of our island that mattered to the country. Every day was a new topic, a new expert and obviously a whole sea of information, ideas and food for thought that triggered our minds. The quality and standard of the course was such that, the syllabus was updated constantly. It was definitely not the traditional classroom where age old theory is taught out of a text book. In fact, within the walls of the BIDTI, we learnt the significance of a firm hand shake. We learnt that we should tilt the soup bowl away from us to sip the last bit. We learnt how transitional justice helps to develop our island in the North and East. We learnt how to make use of Sri Lanka’s strategic location to be a leader in emerging Asia.

At the convocation, apart from being officially declared a diplomate, I was honoured to be the recipient of the prestigious Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Prize awarded to the batch topper. As part of the alumni representative of the armed of forces, corporate professionals, doctors, lawyers and undergraduates, it was a truly diverse experience that was gifted to all those who enrolled to the Diploma.

The Diploma in Diplomacy and World Affairs certainly opened many doors for me and equipped me to tread on the path of my choice and passion. In April 2018, I represented Sri Lanka as the youth representative at the Commonwealth Youth Forum in London. In October 2018, I was appointed as one of the Sri Lankan Youth Delegates to the United Nations which enabled me to be the voice of 4.4 million youth in Sri Lanka at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Recently I was also selected as a committee member of the Asian Regional Committee of the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC) for the period 2018-2020 to assist with the strategic planning, transformation and policy direction and implementation of the CYS Asian Region. To fulfill my duties in all of the above capacities, the diploma has been a tremendously useful and impactful foundation for me. Moreover, my achievement as the batch topper also allowed me to successfully apply for my Masters in International Relations offered by the University of Colombo.

As an attorney at law candidate and an apprentice at the Attorney General’s Department, my learning at the BIDTI and the highly recognized qualification has complimented very well. With a much more refined understanding of what is happening around the country and the world at large, it is truly enriching to be able to connect the dots from what I have learnt.

The Diploma in Diplomacy and World Affairs offers a larger course spectrum covering the theories of Diplomacy, regional organizations, world affairs, socio economic and political affairs of the country, etiquette training and many more. What is most rewarding is that all these are delivered by an ambassadors, high commissioners and other experts in the field which enables us to relive their experience in a lecture hall. With the support extended by the administration and staff of the BIDTI, I have no reservation in recommending the BIDTI to kick start your passion and interest in Diplomacy and World Affairs. Therefore this is a warm invitation to everyone out there to enroll yourself in the Diploma in Diplomacy and World Affairs at the most accredited training institution of the Foreign Affairs Ministry: The Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute.
Shamilka Karunanayake was a recipient of the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Award and Distinction holder of the Diploma in Diplomacy & World Affairs (Batch XIV)

The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and not the institutional views of the BIDTI, nor do they necessarily reflect the position of any other institution or individual with which the author is affiliated.
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