Skip to main content

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.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Communism, Nationalism, Racism to Separatism (The rise and fall of Tito’s Yugoslavia)

Introduction Yugoslavia, the land of the South Slavs was formed after World War I.   Although they spoke a common language (Servo-Croatian), the country comprised of six ethnic groups, with different histories, different beliefs, and distinct identities. During the last century, this nation achieved an incredible rise to power and had a devastating collapse in the span of nine decades. Yugoslavia experienced a variety of governmental structures 1 . The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was established in 1918, only to be substituted in 1943 by the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. Just three years later, the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed under the influential leadership of Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980) 2 . The country which existed for 85 years and flourished under Tito’s leadership, is now non-existent. It is argued that the continuous adoption of various ideology caused instability and eventually led to the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. T
Post a Comment
Read more

Reconciliation through sports diplomacy: An overview of the 1995 Rugby World Cup

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was an anti-apartheid political revolutionary who served as the President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country’s first black President and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. This article discusses the trials and tribulations of the South African President and how sports diplomacy played a significant part in the country’s efforts at nation-building. Mandela decided to get involved in anti-colonial and African nationalist politics after South Africa’s National Party’s white-only government established a system of racial segregation that privileged the white community in the country. As a result of his political activities, he was arrested and imprisoned on several occasions (Nelson Mandela Foundation, n.d.). Having served 27 years of life in various prisons, Mandela was freed by President F.W de Klerk in 1990 owing to growing domestic and international pressure. Mandela and de Klerk jointly led efforts to
Post a Comment
Read more

Diploma in Diplomacy & World Affairs - A Must for Everyone!

  Growing up in India, the subjects of History and Geography and how they influenced International Relations always fascinated me. Though circumstances made me a banker, my passions always lay with the world of Diplomacy. In January 2019, my husband’s posting brought me to Sri Lanka. Within weeks of arriving, at a diplomatic event at the Indian High Commission, I was suggested to explore the ‘Diploma in Diplomacy and World Affairs’ course at BIDTI. The following day, I walked into the offices at BIDTI to find out more. When I went through the curriculum, I simply couldn’t believe my eyes. A course offered by Oxford University UK which I had dreams of pursuing but was out of my reach was being offered right here in Colombo! This was a dream come true! I still recollect the skepticism I felt when signing up for this Diploma, reminded of the fact neither did I have a background in the subject nor was I a Sri Lankan citizen. All my hesitations were simply met with a welcoming smile by the
Post a Comment
Read more