ABOUT US
Capacity Building in International Relations:
Training international officers from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
The project Capacity Building in International Relations (CABIR) is an initiative sponsored by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by the Executive Education Department of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (EED-GIIDS) in cooperation with local partners. The CABIR programme is now part of the Executive Education department.
CABIR has the objective to strengthen the governance of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia for effective representation at the international level, to increase the accountability and transparency in the management of public affairs and to improve access to information. Moreover, the project supports the capacity building of local non-governmental actors. The means to achieve these objectives is to train young government officials from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in the subjects of human rights, international economics and negotiation techniques.
The project was preceded by a series of diplomatic training courses for
Eastern European and Central Asian countries organised by the GIIDS in
the framework of the Swiss International Relations University Seminar
(SIRUS). In 1997, a group of young diplomats from Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Georgia attended courses in Geneva. Based on this experience and joint
deliberations of the SDC, the CIG-GIIDS and the Ambassadors of Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia in Geneva, a pilot project was initiated and subsequently
prolonged for a next phase. Following the success of the six courses
between 2001 and 2004, the project was prolonged. Two courses are organized
yearly up to today. Courses take place alternatively in Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Georgia. The Project is accompanied by Alumni
Councils, a train-the-trainers module and the Swiss
Leadership Award in International Relations. In addition, the
project will reach out to medium to senior level government officials
through policy dialogue seminars on human rights and international economics.
The project has been accompanied by the establishment of an alumni network
which is coordinated by the three Alumni Councils of Armenia,
Azerbaijan and
Georgia and managed
by an International Senior Programme Manager who regularly
travels to the region. Currently the network consists of 348 participants:
108 from Armenia; 101 from Azerbaijan; and 139 from Georgia.
They have been trained in various courses, respectively: SIRUS-17; Human
Rights-157; Economics-175. They are employed in over 30 different government
institutions including diplomatic missions, and within international organizations.
A website facilitates alumni communication (http://www.cabir.org).
The three national Alumni Councils are responsible for the organisation
of workshops, seminars, round tables, social and civic events and
the promotion of future courses. The Alumni Councils increase the sustainability
of the project within the three countries and foster leadership creation
and capacity building. The improvement of the human resources of the governments
of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, the capacity building of a local partner
and the alumni network represents on the most tangible outcomes of this
project.
In addition to training young government officials, CABIR has also a
mandate to capacity build local non-governmental organizations in Georgia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan in terms of organizing training courses and conferences
according to an international standard.
CABIR has successfully collaborated with the Georgian Foundation for Security
and International Studies (GFSIS) (http://www.gfsis.org),
The Georgian Independent Diplomatic Academy (GIDA), the Caucasus Institute
(http://www.caucasusinstitute.org),
and the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic
of Azerbaijan (APA) (http://dia.edu.az).
Geneva, November 2005
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