Annual Report 2009
Annual Report 2009
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Date
2009
Authors
Group of Authors
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Publisher
DiploFoundation
Abstract
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Despite the turbulence of 2009, Diplo successfully navigated through the year, not only
surviving, but maintaining a steady growth in the number of course participants, study
opportunities offered and other activities. Diplo’s main focus for 2009 was on ensuring
medium-term sustainability through introducing new activities and diversifying funding.
This approach saw significant results: with the introduction of new courses and a
promotional campaign, the number of paying online course participants increased by
65% from 2008. Furthermore, Diplo concluded an important training agreement with
the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Under the umbrella of an inter-governmental
memorandum of understanding signed by Mexico, Malta and Switzerland, Diplo now
provides online diplomatic training for Mexican diplomats.
Another significant achievement was making the long-running Internet Governance
Capacity Building Programme sustainable without significant financing from Diplo’s core
funding. In 2009, Diplo started providing services in this field, including professional
Internet governance training for the government of Egypt and the Council of Europe.
AT&T supported research and publishing projects. In September 2009, Diplo was
awarded the EU/ACP tender for its IG/ICT capacity development programme for Africa-Caribbean-Pacific regions. In addition, a new European Internet Governance Capacity
Development Programme was introduced and successfully delivered.
Diplo’s Climate Change programme was further developed in 2009, with updates to
course materials and two course deliveries. The course is now well established as an
effective and professional training opportunity in the field of climate change policy.
Diplo also intensified awareness-building activities on climate change, including
illustrations and web materials. With its tested and well-developed course and emerging
policy community, Diplo has gathered the necessary elements for introducing a capacity
development programme on climate change combining online courses, policy research
and policy immersion.
During the year, Diplo continued the organisational consolidation which started in
2008. Procedures, project reporting and monitoring were adjusted to the organisational
standards required by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and other
donors. Diplo also initiated improvements to communications as a crucial element of
fund-raising activities.
Diplo continued to develop and strengthen various alliances and partnerships. In
September 2009 Diplo signed a memorandum of understanding establishing the
Consortium for European Diplomatic Training with the Vienna Diplomatic Academy,
the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael, the Oxford Centre for
Diplomacy and the College of Europe. Within the International Forum on Diplomatic
Training (a network of 80 diplomatic training institutes), Diplo has been serving as the
coordinator of online training initiatives. Working with IKM Emergent, Diplo organised
an e-participation and reporting exercise at the Internet Governance Forum in Sharm
el-Sheikh, in November 2009. Following on successful cooperation in 2008, Diplo
worked together with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the
International Criminal Police Organisation – INTERPOL, to develop and deliver three
capacity building programmes on international cooperation to counter terrorism.
In spite of numerous successes, one of the remaining challenges is finding a proper
framework for transferring Diplo’s online training methodology to other institutions.
The excellence of Diplo’s work was formally recognised in October 2009: Diplo won a
prestigious award as one of the “Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and
Politics” for contributions to capacity development in Internet governance.