Female students put themselves in the shoes of diplomats – for a day

Doha: To mark International Women’s Day on March 8 [yesterday]the Ambassadors of Austria, Canada, Greece, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States, the Deputy Head of Mission of Brazil, Belgium, France, Singapore and the Director from the IOM Regional Office in Doha – all female Heads of Mission – organized the ‘Diplomat for a Day’ initiative.

The program aimed to mentor young Qatari and international female students from Albania, Egypt, India, Iraq, Nigeria and Zimbabwe attending Georgetown University for a day and expose them to real diplomatic life. .

“Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Future” is this year’s theme, which aims to celebrate the tremendous efforts of women and girls around the world to lead the charge on adaptation, mitigation and responding to climate change to build a more sustainable future.

Each Head of Mission organized a unique program highlighting their tenure and activities in Qatar. The students were a shadow diplomat for the day, working side-by-side with their head of mission and participating in various diplomatic activities. Some of these activities included meetings with the consular sections to assist in the documentation process, interactions with other ambassadors, briefings on the various policies being implemented, program discussions within the trade sections and Embassy cultural events, meetings with other government agencies, participation in technical meetings and attending field visits.

Canadian Ambassador to Qatar HE Stefanie McCollum with students Dana Almohannadi (middle) and Kamilah Idris.

At the end of the day, a reception was organized at the Canadian Embassy to allow all the participants to meet and share their experience. All COVID-19 precautions were in place for the day.

“The idea behind this initiative is to give young women exposure to some of the work we do and to give them first-hand experience in diplomatic offices,” said HE Stefanie McCollum, Ambassador of Canada to Qatar. , speaking on behalf of the woman. mission leaders.

“The experience was very rewarding for us too, and the energy and enthusiasm shown by these incredible students was contagious,” she added.

Aisha Tariq Al Muhannadi, who spent the day with HE Graciela Gómez García, Mexican Ambassador to Qatar, said: “This is a great opportunity for a woman studying culture and politics at Georgetown University to follow her Excellency the Ambassador of Mexico. This learning experience will help me better understand the theoretical study of politics in practical spheres by living the real-life experience of a current diplomat. “Diplomat for a Day” will also give me insight into the struggles women go through behind the scenes in politics and how they overcome societal pressures. »