On 11 April, the third annual Junior Diplomat Initiative Youth Dialogue brought students together with Geneva’s diplomatic community to discuss the shifting landscape of international diplomacy.

“JDI’s goal is to bridge the gap between diplomacy in theory and diplomacy in practice” said Kirsten Salyer (Master of International Affairs). “The Youth Dialogue connects professionals with aspiring diplomats from across Europe, exploring the challenges of the evolving diplomatic sphere through interactive conversation.”

“We wanted to focus this year’s event on the kaleidoscope of diplomacy and the wide range of multi-stakeholder actors, coming from the private sector, civil society, NGOs as well as from the traditional diplomatic framework” explained Catherine McDonald (Master of International Affairs).

“Young people have a very different skill set from my generation, and there’s increasing give and take”, said H.E. Valentin Zellweger, Head of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations in Geneva. “This forum is an excellent opportunity to have an exchange with young people, for us to talk about our experience and to reflect on what we’re doing, and to hear their reactions.”

The event featured panels on the power of women in diplomacy and on the case for inclusivity in diplomacy, and skill-based workshops facilitated by the Inclusive Peace & Transition Initiative (IPTI), swisspeace and DiploFoundation.

The Junior Diplomat Initiative was founded by students at the University of Economics, Prague in 2011, before expanding to the Graduate Institute in 2013 and to Sciences Po Paris in 2015. You can learn more about JDI through their web page or Facebook. A short video with Kirsten, Catherine, Ambassador Zellweger and IPTI workshop leader Alex Bramble is below.