The Junior Diplomat Initiative (JDI) Youth Dialogue is is an annual conference organised by the Junior Diplomat Initiative in Prague and Geneva for the past four years. It is a unique project seeking to encourage a comprehensive dialogue between experienced diplomats, young professionals, and students of international affairs, in order to share and discuss their views on key topics in the field of international relations and diplomacy.

The main aim of the JDI Youth Dialogue is to enable students interested in diplomacy to challenge their theoretical knowledge and enhance their practical skills through a comprehensive cross-generational dialogue with diplomats and other international relations experts. The topic of the conference will be “Diplomacy in times of crisis”. Through interactive panels and applied workshops, this year’s conference will introduce students to some of the emerging trends and challenges of diplomacy during crisis situations.

Our first panel, composed of young professionals working from the American and European Missions to the UN, will aim to show how diplomatic practice adapts in response to critical events and changes in foreign policy. The focus will be to see how these changes are translated in their everyday work.

Our second panel will bring high-level panellists from different diplomatic traditions: parliamentary diplomacy, multilateral diplomacy, and humanitarian diplomacy. They will explain what diplomacy looks like based of their different experiences highlighting the challenges, opportunities, successes and failures, as well as how the diplomatic practice has evolved over their respective career in times of conflicts and crisis situations. 

Students have the option of participating in one of three workshops: Mediation, Big Data & Humanitarian Affairs and Crisis Management. The workshops will include both a theoretical and a practical component that will help immerse students in the intricacies of diplomacy.

The JDI Switzerland Youth Dialogue 2017 is organised by the Junior Diplomat Initiative Switzerland in partnership with the Graduate Institute, in collaboration with the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), DiploFoundation and swisspeace.

Due to the limited number of seats, participants are required to register here (priority will be given to students).

Programme:

9:00 - 9:15 Opening Ceremony

9:15 - 10:45 Young Professional Panel – Practicing Diplomacy: Critical Changes in the International Landscape

Panelists:

• Michele Roulbet, Permanent Mission of the United States to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva
• Kaisa Mitt, Permanent Mission of Estonia to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva
• Radka Sibille, Delegation of the European Union to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva

Moderator

• Stephanie Hofmann, Associate Professor in Political Science at the Graduate Institute

10:45 - 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 - 12:30 High-level Panel – Encountering Diplomacy: Multiple Approaches to Conflict and Humanitarian Crises

Panelists:

• H.E. Mr. Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
• H.E. Ms. Antje Leendertse, Permanent Representative of Germany to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva
• Dr. Hugo Slim, Head of Policy and Humanitarian Diplomacy, ICRC​

Moderator:

• Andrew Clapham, International Law Professor at the Graduate Institute

12:30 - 14:00 Lunch Break and Networking Event

14:00 - 15:15 Workshop Session (part 1 of 2)

• Mediation (in collaboration with Swisspeace)
• Big Data & Humanitarian Affairs (in collaboration with DiploFoundation)
• Crisis Management (in collaboration with GCSP)

15:15 - 15:30 Coffee Break

15:30 - 16:45 Workshop Session (part 2 of 2)

16:45 - 17:00 Closing Ceremony

Please contact juniordiplomatinitiative@graduateinstitute.ch for more information, visit our Facebook page or click here to find out more about about past JDI Switzerland activities.

Check this video to know more about our Youth Dialogue 2016 on the "Future of Diplomacy" !