From February to October 2023, CPDS is in charge of a training project entitled Support for Kosovo Parliamentary Diplomacy. The aim of the project is to strengthen the representation practice of the Assembly of Kosovo (AoK) on international level. The project offers a comprehensive capacity building package to 25 officials and Members of the AoK, helping them to increase their skills and capacities to pursue better outcomes for their organisation as well as for the country.
The project entails 16 days of training clustered under three pillars: soft diplomatic skills, communication skills and Euro-Atlantic integration. The courses focus on subjects such as: intercultural communication; networking, influencing and negotiations; stakeholder prioritisation; research, documentation and reporting; crisis management; effective drafting; e-diplomacy; etc.
The training methodology combines theory with practice. Participants take part in various workshops collaborating in groups as well as individually. The project also offers first hand experience from practitioners and parliamentary diplomacy experts, such as former Members of European Parliament, and Heads of National Parliamentary Delegations. The experts share their valuable experience, advice and “behind-the-scene” approach about European Parliament, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, NATO Parliamentary Assembly, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, International Parliamentary Union, as well as their relations with national parliaments in Europe and in the world.
The project is supported and financed by the Peace and Human Rights Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
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Traditional diplomacy aims to be tightly focused on international role of governments. In the plethora of different types of diplomacy pursued in contemporary international affairs, parliamentary diplomacy stands out because:
- parliamentarians bring moral dimensions to international politics;
- parliamentary diplomacy transcends narrow definitions of national interests;
- parliamentary diplomacy supports democracy;
- parliamentary diplomacy focuses on human rights issues;
- parliamentary diplomacy debates over challenging problems and tries to find solutions to intractable issues.
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